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ETCHING 


IN    AMERICA 


WITH  LISTS   OF  AMERICAN  ETCHERS  AND 
NOTABLE  COLLECTIONS  OF  PRINTS 


J.   R.  W.  HITCHCOCK 


NEW  YORK 

WHITE,  STOKES,  &  ALLEN 

1886 


Copyright,  1886 
By  white,  stokes,  &  ALLEN 


O/ 


NOTE 

IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  FRONTISPIECE. 


Three  of  the  organizers  of  the  club  shared 
in  the  preparation  of  the  first  etching  of  the 
New  York  Etching  Club.  The  "ground  "  was 
laid  by  Mr.  James  D.  Smillie,  Mr.  R.  Swain 
Giiford  drew  the  design,  and  Dr.  Leroy  Milton 
Yale  "manned  the  press"  and  took  off  the  first 
impression.  This  was  on  an  evening  in  the 
winter  of  1877-78,  when  some  twenty  artists, 
more  than  half  unacquainted  with  the  process, 
met  in  an  up-town  studio  to  organize  an  etch- 
ing club  and  to  gain  some  practical  knowl- 
edge. In  the  preface  to  the  first  illustrated 
catalogue  issued  by  the  club,  Mr.  James  D. 
Smillie  has  described  the  etching  of  the  frontis- 
piece-plate as  follows :  "  Those  twenty  inter- 
ested artists  formed  an  impatient  circle,  and 
hurried  through  the  forms  of  an  organization, 


IV  NOTE. 

anxious  for  the  commencement  of  the  real 
work  of  the  evening.  Copper  plates  were  dis- 
played ;  grounds  were  laid  (that  is,  delicate 
coatings  of  resinous  wax  were  spread  upon 
the  plates) ;  etchings  were  made  (that  is,  de- 
signs were  scratched  with  fine  points,  or  nee- 
dles, through  such  grounds  upon  the  copper) ; 
trays  of  mordant  bubbled  (that  is,  the  acid 
corroded  the  metal  exposed  by  the  scratched 
lines,  the  surface  elsewhere  being  protected 
from  such  action  by  the  wax  ground),  to  the 
discomfort  of  noses,  the  eager  wearers  of  which 
were  crowding  and  craning  to  see  the  work  in 
progress.  This  process  being  completed,  in 
cleansing  the  wax  grounds  and  varnish  from 
the  plates  the  fumes  of  turpentine  succeeded 
those  of  acid.  Then  an  elegant  brother,  who 
had  dined  out  early  in  the  evening,  laid  aside 
his  broadcloth,  rolled  up  the  spotless  linen  of 
his  sleeves,  and  became  for  the  time  an  en- 
thusiastic printer.  The  smear  of  thick,  pasty 
ink  was  deftly  rubbed  into  the  lines  just  cor- 
roded, and  as  deftly  cleansed  from  the  polished 
surface ;  the  damped  sheet  of  thin,  silky  Japan 
paper  was  spread  upon  the  gently  warmed 
plate ;  the  heavy  steel  roller  of  the  printing- 


NOTE.  V 

press,  with  its  triple  facing  of  thick,  soft  blank- 
et, was  slowly  rolled  over  it,  and  in  another 
moment,  finding  scant  room  in  the  pressing 
crowd,  the  first-born  of  the  New  York  Etching 
Club  was  being  tenderly  passed  from  hand  to 
hand." 


PREFACE. 


There  are  histories  of  American  painting  and 
engraving,  but  "  Etching  in  America  "  is  the 
first  book  devoted  to  this  branch  of  our  art. 
As  a  history,  it  records  the  subserviency  of 
etching  in  the  hands  of  our  early  engraver 
etchers,  and  the  various  influences  leading  to 
the  late  emancipation  of  etching  as  an  art. 
There  is  included,  my  introduction  to  "  Recent 
American  Etchings,"  published  last  year  by 
the  publishers  of  this  volume.  But,  aside  from 
mere  historical  narration,  it  has  seemed  essen- 
tial that  something  should  be  said  against  a 
style  of  etching  which,  while  retrogressive 
in  methods  and  commercial  in  motive,  yet 
meets  with  a  certain  degree  of  popular  favor. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  have  tried  to  do  full  jus- 
tice to  our  artist  etchers,  and  by  the  citation 
of  examples  I  have  hoped  to  direct  a  larger 
share  of  public  attention  to  the  consideration 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

of  work  intrinsically  valuable.  A  plea  for 
the  persistent  recognition  and  maintenance  of 
pure  painters'  etching,  and  a  frank  analysis  of 
the  rapidly  developed  demand  for  etchings, 
have  seemed  to  me  much  needed  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Some  account  is  given  of  the  growth 
of  American  print  collecting,  and  of  the  pres- 
ent private  and  public  collections  ;  but,  for  the 
most  part,  I  have  confined  myself  to  American 
etching. 

For  this  an  apology  is  not  needed.  The  con- 
noisseur can  consult  Bartsch,  Dumesnil,  Passa- 
vant,  Weigel,  Thausing,  Dutuit,  and  the  whole 
army  of  continental  writers  of  general  works 
or  of  critical  biographies  and  catalogues.  For 
the  ordinary  print-lover,  there  are  Hamerton's 
"Etching  and  Etchers,"  Maberley's  "Print  Col- 
lector," and  Bryan's  "  Dictionary  of  Painters 
and  Engravers."  Technical  processes  are  not 
dwelt  upon  in  this  volume  because,  beyond  the 
now  familiar  elementary  process  of  drawing 
designs  upon  a  grounded  plate,  and  biting  the 
lines  into  the  copper  with  acid,  technical  meth- 
ods are  of  little  interest  to  the  general  reader. 
The  etcher  on  the  other  hand  would  hardly 
thank  a  layman  for  instruction,  which  he  can 


PREFACE.  IX 

obtain  at  first  hand  from  Hamerton,  and  from 
the  hand-books  of  Lalanne,  Martial  and  others. 
With  all  this  material  within  reach,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  new  "  Print  Collector"  promised  by 
M.  Eugene  Dutuit,  and  the  weighty  volume 
upon  etching  lately  published  by  Mr.  S.  R. 
Koehler,  who  has  done  much  to  advance  the 
best  interests  of  the  art  in  this  country,  it  has 
seemed  only  judicious  to  restrict  myself  so  far 
as  possible  to  ground  which  has  not  been  cov- 
ered before.  This  little  book  is  not  intended 
to  be  exhaustive.  If  it  be  found  suggestive, 
the  author's  chief  purpose  will  be  satisfied. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  James  D. 
Smillie,  Henry  F.  Sewall,  Frederick  Keppel 
&  Co.,  and  S.  P.  Avery,  for  many  kindly  of- 
fices. I  have  also  to  acknowledge  the  court- 
esy of  Mr.  R.  Swain  Giflford,  and  Dr.  Leroy 
Milton  Yale,  who  have  generously  permitted 
the  use  of  the  plate  from  which  the  frontis- 
piece is  printed.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that 
this  plate,  which  was  etched  merely  to  illus- 
trate the  process  in  a  company  including  many 
novices,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  representative  of 
Mr.  Gilford's  work.  It  is  peculiarly  interest- 
ing, however,  on  account  of  its  history  and 


X  PREFACE. 

associations,  and  it  is  used  because  the  first 
plate  etched  by  the  oldest  and  strongest  etch- 
ing club  in  this  country,  which  has  been,  and 
is,  the  centre  of  our  etching,  seemed  to  me  to 
furnish  the  most  fitting  frontispiece  for  a  vol- 
ume upon  "  Etching  in  America." 

J.  Ripley  W.  Hitchcock. 

New  York,  February,  1886. 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


THE  etching  is  no  longer  confound- 
ed with  the  pen-and-ink  sketch  or 
the  drawing  upon  lithographer's  stone. 
Needle,  ground,  plate,  and  mordant  are 
terms  used  as  glibly  in  our  current  vo- 
cabulary as  references  to  brush,  mahl  ■ 
stick,  palette,  and  canvas.  There  are 
few  of  us  so  poor  as  to  lack  some 
general  knowledge  of  the  art.  There 
are  few  so  bold  as  to  refuse  to  do  rev- 
erence to  the  etching.  In  these  days 
of  enthusiasm  it  is  taken  rather  as  a 
compliment  than  otherwise  to  be  re- 
minded that  popular  interest  in  the  art 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


is  hardly  six  years  old  in  this  country. 
This  fact  we  accept  as  proof  of  our  quick 
intuitions,  and  we  pride  ourselves  upon 
our  uncommon  powers  of  appreciation. 
Etching  is  our  youngest  art,  and  in  view 
of  its  youth  an  attempt  at  a  biography 
may  seem  at  present  premature.  And 
yet  the  height  of  chalcographic  enthusi- 
asm which  we  have  so  suddenly  reached 
is  an  excellent  point  of  observation.  On 
the  one  side  is  the  work  of  our  early 
engraver-etchers,  succeeded  by  the  ele- 
vation of  etching  from  its  fallen  state  of 
servitude  to  supremacy  among  the  linear 
arts.  On  the  other,  there  are  signs  of 
a  growing  tendency  among  etchers  to 
ignore  free-hand  painter's  etching  and 
to  be  influenced  by  popular  demand  into 
a  style  of  elaborated  work  which  differs 
little  from  the  engraver's  etching  of  our 
fathers.     We  can  watch  the  pendulum 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


through  its  arc  and  see  at  least  the 
beginning  of  its  returning  swing.  As 
regards  popular  taste,  the  etching  fever 
is  emerging  from  the  violent  stage  to 
enter,  let  us  hope,  a  healthier  period  of 
convalescence.  Altogether,  American 
etching,  despite  its  youth,  has  already- 
become  an  interesting  study,  and  it  is 
the  more  interesting  from  its  variety, 
which  offers  so  many  exceptions  to  any 
general  characterization.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  dispose  of  American  etchers  in 
a  phrase  or  two,  when  only  ten  of  the 
number  show  such  individual  work  and 
divergent  methods  as  are  seen  in  a  re- 
cently published  collection. 

There  is  an  incongruity  in  alluding  to 
an  art  which  has  existed,  and  at  times 
flourished,  for  three  hundred  years,  as 
if  it  were  born  yesterday.  Yet  the  ex- 
istence of  etching  has  always  been  fitful 


6  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

and  uncertain.  According  to  Mr.  Ham- 
erton  there  was  nothing  to  be  compared 
with  the  school  of  Rembrandt  until  the 
school  of  Flameng  arose  in  the  present 
century.  All  this  time  etching  was  prac- 
tised to  some  extent  in  Europe,  and  the 
American  artists  of  the  last  century  who 
went  abroad  must  have  had  some  ac- 
quaintance with  the  art,  although  the 
acquaintance  never  ripened  into  friend- 
ship. Etching  here,  as  in  England,  was 
first  employed  by  engravers  simply  as  a 
means  of  forwarding  work  which  was 
finished  with  the  burin,  and  even  with 
the  ruling-machine.  In  any  history  of 
line  engraving  there  will  be  frequent 
references  to  the  employment  of  etch- 
ing. Gerard  Audran,  who  led  the  so- 
called  classical  Renaissance  school  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, was  accustomed  to  hasten  his  work 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


by  the  use  of  etching,  and  the  English 
engravers  of  the  last  century  sometimes 
substituted  the  needle  for  the  burin.  In 
this  century  mixed  methods  have  been 
extremely  prevalent.  Mr.  Hamerton  in- 
stances modern  engravings,  after  Rosa 
Bonheur,  by  H.  T.  Ryall,  C.  G.  Lewis, 
and  T.  Landseer,  in  which  "the  tone  of 
the  skies  is  got  by  machine-ruling,  and 
so  is  much  undertone  in  the  landscape ; 
the  fur  of  the  animals  is  all  etched,  and 
so  are  the  foreground  plants,  the  real 
burin  work  being  used  sparingly  where 
most  favorable  to  texture.  Even  in  the 
exquisite  engravings,  after  Turner,  by 
Cooke,  Goodall,  Wallis,  Miller,  and 
Willmore,  the  engravers  have  recourse 
to  etching,  finishing  with  the  burin  and 
dry  point"  These  accounts  of  mixed 
methods  may  seem  superfluous  to  en- 
gravers  or  to    etchers,    but    they   are 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


necessary  for  a  layman's  comprehension 
of  the  allusions  to  etching  which  appear 
in  the  early  history  of  American  art. 

Take,  for  example,  that  curious  old 
volume  of  William  Dunlap's,  "  History 
of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  United 
States,"  a  singularly  minute  portrayal 
of  the  straits  to  which  our  early  artists 
were  too  frequently  reduced.  Nearly 
fifty  years  ago  Dunlap  wrote:  "Engrav- 
ing or  working  with  the  graver  was  the 
first  or  oldest  practice.  Etching  fol- 
lowed and  became  an  auxiliary  to  the 
engraver."  An  auxiliary  indeed !  Only 
a  few  years  ago  Dr.  Haden  was  among 
us,  uplifting  the  art  of  etching  and  cast- 
ing stones  at  the  mechanical  trade  of 
engraving.  Now  that  the  disciples  of 
Hamerton  and  Lalanne  are  everywhere, 
poor  old  Dunlap's  definitions  would  be 
promptly  ruled  out  of  any  court,  and  yet 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  9 

he  correctly  formulated  the  practice  of 
his  times.  In  fact,  even  in  these  days 
the  needle  and  burin  are  associated 
oftener  than  is  dreamed  of  by  the  aver- 
age admirer  of  the  etching.  Is  the  pen- 
dulum swinp-inof  backward  ?  But  for  the 
present  let  us  confine  ourselves  to  Dun- 
lap.  He  mentions  Peter  R.  Maverick, 
originally  a  silversmith,  who  "  etched 
and  engraved  for  many  years  in  New 
York.  In  1787-88,"  writes  Dunlap, 
"  he  taught  me  the  theory  and  practice 
of  etching,  and  in  his  workshop  I  etched 
a  frontispiece  for  a  dramatic  trifle  then 
published.  He  had  his  press  in  his 
workshop."  Now,  Maverick  was  a  me- 
chanical engraver,  and  while  he  could 
teach  Dunlap  how  to  lay  a  ground,  mix 
his  mordant,  and  bite  his  plate,  the  in- 
struction could  not  have  gone  beyond 
engraver's  etching.    Dunlap,  to  be  sure. 


lO  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

was  a  painter,  but  it  is  improbable  that 
he  executed  a  free-hand  etching  with- 
out assistance  from  the  engraver's  tools. 
The  same  can  be  said  regarding  the 
work  of  other  engravers  mentioned 
in  this  volume.  There  was  Alexander 
Lawson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  came 
to  this  country  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  After  some  use  of 
the  graver,  Lawson  "  had  points  made 
for  etching  and  tried  that.  I  then  got  a 
mezzotinto  tool  and  tried  that  mode  of 
engraving.  I  tried  everything,  and  did 
nothing  well  for  want  of  a  little  instruc- 
tion." Lawson  was  reduced  to  find- 
ing employment  as  an  engraver  with 
Thackara  &  Valance  of  Philadelphia. 
"Their  art  consisted  in  copying,  in  a 
dry,  stiff  manner,  with  a  graver,  the 
plates  for  the  Encyclopaedia,  all  their 
attempts  at  etching  having  miscarried. 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  II 

They  also  engraved  card-plates,  dog- 
collars,  door-plates,"  etc.  From  this  it 
appears  that  Lawson  appreciated  the 
distinction  between  etching  and  me- 
chanical engraving  better  than  some  of 
his  contemporaries.  Evidently  he  had 
an  ambition  to  take  up  etching  as  an 
art,  but  his  hopes  were  frustrated.  Our 
early  art  history  abounds  in  records  of 
ambition  brought  to  naught  by  the  bit- 
ter necessity  of  bread-winning  in  un- 
congenial but  immediately  remunerative 
pursuits.  In  mezzotint  engraving  Law- 
son  was  anticipated  by  Jennings,  who 
came  from  England  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolution,  and,  according 
to  Dunlap,  executed  "  probably  the  first 
mezzotint  scraped  in  America."  This 
was  from  a  portrait  by  Copley  of  Na- 
thaniel Hurd,  who  divides  with  Paul  Re- 
vere the  honor  of  being  the  first  Amer- 


12  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

ican  engraver.  Of  Francis  Kearny, 
1780-1804,  Dunlap  says:  "  Drawing  he 
studied  under  Mr.  Archibald  Robertson 
and  his  brother  Alexander.  Line  en- 
graving, etching,  aqua-tinto,  stippling, 
and  soft-ground  etching  were  all  studied 
by  the  young  engraver,  principally  by 
the  aid  of  books."  It  was  an  engraver, 
not  an  etcher,  who  struggled  to  teach 
himself  these  various  arts  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  facilities  for  art  educa- 
tion. Could  Thackeray,  when  he  de- 
picted the  travels  and  experiences  of 
Michael  Angelo  Titmarsh,  ever  have 
heard  of  John  Rubens  Smith  ?  An 
artist  of  this  name  lived  in  New  York 
about  181 2.  He  "both  etched  and 
scraped  in  mezzo-tints.  His  design  and 
etching  of  George  Frederick  Cooke's 
monument,  erected  by  Kean  to  the 
memory  of  his  predecessor,  in  St.  Paul's 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  13 

Churchyard,  New  York,  with  the  fig- 
ures of  Kean  and  Dr.  Francis,  had  some 
notoriety  at  the  time,  and  more  in  Eng- 
land since  Kean's  death."  But  John 
Rubens  Smith,  I  fear,  regarded  etching 
only  as  "an  auxiHary  to  engraving." 

Now  the  painter's  etching,  a  free- 
hand drawing  upon  a  grounded  plate, 
autographic  in  character,  expressing  the 
individuality  of  the  artist  in  lines  direct- 
ed by  the  immediate  brain-impulse  of 
the  man,  suggestive  rather  than  elabo- 
rated, is  obviously  a  very  different  thing 
from  the  engraver's  etching,  in  which 
the  needle  is  but  one  of  half-a-dozen 
tools,  and  the  biting  one  of  several  pro- 
cesses, of  which  the  printing  is  by  no 
means  the  least  important.  It  may  be 
said  that  this  definition  of  engraver's 
etching  applies  to  many  etchings  of  the 
present  day.     True,  but  we  have  not 


14  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

yet  followed  the  pendulum  through  its 
arc.  No  one  of  those  whom  I  have 
mentioned  can  be  called  the  first  Ameri- 
can etcher,  meaning,  of  course,  a  painter- 
etcher.  This  honor  is  to  be  awarded,  on 
the  authority  of  Mr.  W.  S.  Baker,  to 
Joseph  Wright,  son  of  Patience  Wright, 
a  modeller  in  wax,  who  was  born  at 
Bordentown,  N.  J.,  in  1756.  He  was 
one  of  the  few  artists  of  that  time  who 
enjoyed  an  opportunity  of  studying  in 
London  and  Paris.  As  the  story  goes, 
the  first  American  etching  was  a  por- 
trait of  the  George  Washington  whom 
most  of  us  know  as  a  demi-god  rather 
than  as  a  man.  In  the  winter  of  1 790, 
Washington  was  a  regular  attendant  at 
Trinity  Chapel,  New  York.  Thither 
also  repaired  the  artist  Wright,  but  not 
to  pray.  The  sermon  fell  upon  deaf 
ears,    for  Wright,  armed   with  crayon 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  1 5 

and  paper,  passed  the  time  of  service  in 
drawing  a  profile  portrait  of  Washing- 
ton, quite  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
involuntary  sitter.  From  this  crayon 
drawing  he  made  an  etching  which  Mr. 
Baker  calls  "  probably  the  first  ever 
executed  by  a  painter  in  this  country." 
The  statement  in  this  form  is  incorrect, 
for  Dunlap  gives  1787  as  the  date  of 
his  own  experiments  with  the  needle. 
But  Wright's  etching  may  have  been 
executed  without  adventitious  aids,  and 
it  is  probable  that  Dunlap  employed  the 
burin  at  least.  This  stolen  portrait  of 
Washington  was  printed  on  a  small  card 
and  published  the  same  year,  and  "in 
this  shape,"  says  Mr.  Baker,  "has  come 
down  to  us,  one  of  the  most  faithful  and 
interesting  portraits  of  Washington.  It 
represents  him  in  uniform,  and  was  es- 
teemed at  the  time  to  be  an  excellent 


l6  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

likeness.  The  etching  is  executed  with 
much  taste  and  freedom,  and  became 
known  in  England  shortly  after  its  pub- 
lication by  close  copies  made  by  the  en- 
gravers Collyer  and  Chapman."  This 
portrait  appears  on  the  "Twigg  Medal" 
and  other  pieces,  described  by  Mr.  Baker 
in  his  "  Medallic  Portraits  of  Washing- 
ton." A  needle  first  employed  in  tracing 
the  lineaments  of  Washington  should 
have  been  heard  of  afterward,  but  I 
know  of  no  subsequent  etchings  by 
Wright.  The  claim  put  forth  in  his  be- 
half is  not  beyond  dispute ;  but  I  fancy 
no  one  will  care  to  dispute  it,  nor  to 
question  this  interesting  tale.  For  one,  I 
am  quite  ready  to  acknowledge  Joseph 
Wright  as  the  first  American  etcher, 
and  the  portrait  of  George  Washington 
as  our  first  simon-pure  etching. 

A  few  years  later  Robert  W.  Weir, 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  1/ 

the  first  of  a  well-known  family  of  artists, 
became  interested  in  etching  from  paint- 
ings. He  wrote  Dunlap  that  "  about 
1820  I  had  copied  some  of  Rembrandt's 
etchings  so  close  as  to  be  with  difficulty- 
detected,  and  was  on  the  eve  of  turning 
my  attention  seriously  to  the  publication 
of  etchings  from  various  old  pictures  in 
the  possession  of  different  gentlemen  in 
New  York,  but  like  many  other  things 
of  the  kind  it  fell  through  after  the  first 
or  second  plate  was  finished."  This 
was  our  earliest  attempt  at  a  systematic 
reproduction  of  paintings  by  means  of 
the  etching  needle,  a  branch  of  the  art 
without  which  the  schools  founded  by 
Unger,  Flameng,  and  Waltner  would 
be  of  very  much  less  consequence.  But 
in  this  country  etching  from  paintings 
by  "  old  masters  "  has  never  flourished 
for  lack  of  accessible  material,  and  Mr. 


1 8  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

J.  S.  King's  serious  efforts  in  this  direc- 
tion have  been  welcomed  on  account  of 
their  novelty  as  well  as  their  sterling 
merit.  In  1820  there  was  clearly  no 
demand  for  this  or  any  other  applica- 
tion of  etching  beyond  that  made  by 
the  engravers,  who  held  the  art  in  their 
own  hands  until  within  the  last  genera- 
tion. The  old-time  historical  engraver 
used  the  graver  altogether,  the  burin 
line  being  thought  best  adapted  to  the 
treatment  of  flesh,  and  much  of  the  work 
of  the  old  landscape  engravers  was  gov- 
erned by  the  most  arbitrary  conventions. 
Taking  a  small  section  of  such  engrav- 
ing, with  its  lozenge  and  dot  or  square 
arrangement  of  lines,  enlarging  it  and 
placing  beside  it  an  etching,  the  en- 
graver's work  naturally  appears  absurd. 
Obviously  such  a  comparison  is  unfair, 
yet  this  is  precisely  what  was  done  by 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  19 

Mr.  Haden  when  lecturing  in  this  coun- 
try. He  succeeded  in  illustrating  the 
superiority  of  the  needle  over  the  burin, 
but  his  comparison  of  a  part  of  the  en- 
graving with  a  complete  etching  was 
imperfect,  and,  moreover,  he  gave  the 
modern  engraver  slight  credit  for  his 
knowledge  and  use  of  etching.  Any 
one  who  has  studied  the  best  landscape 
work  of  our  three  veteran  engravers 
still  living — Messrs.  Smillie,' Sartain, 
and  Ritchie — will  be  inclined  to  modify 
some  of  Mr.  Haden's  conclusions.  I 
have  before  me  six  states  of  an  engrav- 
ing by  Mr.  James  Smillie,  after  a  land- 
scape by  Asher  B.  Durand.  The  sub- 
ject was  first  drawn  on  an  etcher's  plate 
and  bitten  in,  the  result  being  a  slight 
sketch  with  an  almost  total  absence  of 
tones.  Then  a  re-biting  ground  was 
laid.      The    darker    lines   were   bitten 


20  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

again,  and  certain  delicate  lines  were 
merely  painted  with  acid.  The  burin 
was  employed,  and  many  of  the  lines 
re-worked  in  the  effort  to  get  the  full 
line  of  tones  in  the  painting.  Then  the 
sky  and  other  flat  tints  were  obtained  by 
the  use  of  the  ruling-machine.  These 
successive  processes  can  be  traced  in 
the  changing  foliage,  ground,  water,  and 
sky  of  the  different  states,  until  the  final 
result  is  an  engraving  of  surpassing  me- 
chanical nicety.  Clearly  the  superiority 
of  free-hand  etching  over  such  fine  but 
labored  work  as  this  needs  no  demon- 
stration, but  at  the  same  time  the  knowl- 
edge and  rare  skill  shown  in  such  land- 
scape engraving  should  receive  a  fair 
recognition.  If  I  seem  to  devote  undue 
space  to  this  point,  it  is  because  etching 
in  America  in  the  last  generation  was 
only  represented  by  such  work  as  this. 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  21 

I  have  found  etchings  set  down  in  cata- 
logues of  early  Academy  Exhibitions 
held  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  and  some  of 
the  older  artists  deem  the  distinction 
between  etchings  and  engravings  unim- 
portant. Yet  these  Academic  etchings 
no  more  deserved  their  name  than  did 
the  engravings  of  Mr.  Smillie.  There 
was  one  work  of  this  class  which  could 
be  literally  termed  an  etching.  That 
was  a  projected  engraving,  after  a  paint- 
ing of  "  The  Landing  of  Columbus," 
which  was  to  have  been  published  by 
the  old  "Art  Union"  in  the  early  fifties. 
The  "  Art  Union "  fell  to  pieces,  and 
the  plate  never  advanced  beyond  the 
etching  state.  A  few  impressions  were 
taken  in  this  state,  however,  and  these, 
of  course,  may  be  called  etchings,  al- 
though they  only  serve  to  illustrate  the 
use  made  of  the  art  by  engravers. 


22  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  two  Ameri- 
can painters  began  to  interest  them- 
selves in  etching.  One — Mr.  George 
L.  Brown — executed  nine  etchings  in 
Rome  between  1853  and  1855,  which 
were  pubHshed  here  in  i860.  Mr. 
Brown,  who  was  without  special  tech- 
nical training,  was  actuated  by  a  desire 
for  artistic  effects,  but  his  work  was  in- 
fluenced by  the  conventional  methods 
of  his  time.  Mr.  J.  G.  Chapman,  who 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in 
Rome,  is  spoken  of  as  an  etcher  of  con- 
siderable manual  delicacy,  but  as  me- 
chanically proficient  rather  than  cre- 
ative. Contemporary  with  these  artists 
was  a  Mr.  Burt,  who  etched  many  paint- 
ings in  miniature,  the  copies  usually  in- 
tended for  catalogues.  More  important 
work  than  this  was  done  by  Mr.  Edwin 
White  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Falconer.     The 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  2^ 

former,  better  known  as  an  historical 
painter  of  the  last  generation  than  as 
an  etcher,  died  in  1877,  but  Mr.  Fal- 
coner lives  to  contribute  yearly  to  the 
Exhibitions  of  the  New  York  Etching 
Club.  If  not  the  oldest  of  our  etchers, 
he  is  among  the  first  in  order  of  senior- 
ity. Etching  was  then  an  indeterminate 
phrase,  as  was  proved  by  its  application 
to  prints  from  outline  drawings  by  Mr. 
F.  O.  C.  Darley  upon  lithographer's 
stone.  These  colored  prints  were  pub- 
lished as  etchings  by  the  old  "  Ameri- 
can Art  Union."  But  the  engraver  and 
lithographer  were  not  to  be  alone  in 
their  appropriation  of  etching.  The 
photographer  was  to  put  in  his  claim. 
Several  years  later,  Mr.  John  \V.  Ehn- 
inger  invented  a  process  in  which  the 
design  was  drawn  upon  a  plate  of  glass 
coated  with  chemically  pure  silver,  the 


24  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

coating  as  easily  removable  as  the  wax 
ground  on  an  etcher's  plate.  The  glass 
was  placed  against  black  velvet  and 
photographed  upon  sensitive  albumen- 
ized  paper,  the  drawing,  of  course, 
showing  perfectly  black.  By  this  meth- 
od "etchings"  were  made  from  pict- 
ures by  Kensett,  Durand,  Casilear,  and 
others.  Some  of  them  I  have  at  hand. 
They  are  slight,  not  unpleasant  little 
sketches,  suggestive  of  the  camera,  and 
not  at  all  of  the  etching-needle.  I  be- 
lieve Mr.  Ehninger  found  that  etchings 
could  be  printed  from  the  plate  after  the 
usual  treatment  at  less  expense  than  by 
his  process.  Of  late  years  a  way  has 
been  discovered  of  photographing  a 
pen-and-ink  sketch  upon  a  plate  cov- 
ered with  a  specially  prepared  ground. 
When  the  transferred  drawing  is  in 
readiness,    the   lines   are   bitten   in   as 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  2$ 

usual.  An  etching  called  "  The  Mod- 
ern Etcher,"  exhibited  by  Mr.  Robert 
Blum  in  1883,  was  prepared  in  this  way, 
and  in  the  catalogue  of  that  Exhibition 
there  was  an  etching  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Nicoll, 
which  had  been  reduced  by  the  aid  of 
photography,  something,  of  course,  not 
at  all  uncommon. 

The  experiments  of  Messrs.  Ehnin- 
ger  and  Darley  possess  only  a  curious 
interest,  and  the  introduction  of  soft- 
ground  French  engraver's  etchings, 
which  appeared  here  as  early  as  1845, 
is  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  exercising 
any  significant  influence.  As  we  know, 
the  modern  revival  of  true  etching  be- 
gan hardly  thirty  years  ago  in  France, 
and  less  than  twenty  years  since  in  Eng- 
land. Mr.  S.  P.  Avery,  who  has  made 
a  singularly  fine  collection  of  modern 
etchings,  has  proofs  from  plates  etched 


26  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

by  Calame,  the  Swiss  painter,  as  far 
back  as  1838.  In  1844  an  English  etch- 
ing club,  including  among  its  members 
Cope,  Redgrave,  Cheswick,  and  Frede- 
rick Taylor,  issued  a  portfolio,  entitled 
"  Etched  Thoughts,"  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  "  Songs  of  Shakspere,"  and 
other  publications.  Such  instances  were 
exceptional  at  the  time.  Even  twenty- 
five  years  ago  etching  was  only  a  rec- 
reation with  those  French  and  English 
artists  who  practised  this  art  at  all. 
They  etched  for  sheer  love  of  the  work, 
frequently  scraping  off  their  plates  and 
beginning  on  another  subject  without 
dreaming  of  publication.  It  was  in 
1853  that  Leopold  Flameng  appeared 
in  Paris,  where  he  was  destined  to 
found  a  famous  school.  It  is  hard  to 
think  of  a  modern  etcher  who  has  ex- 
ercised   a    wider    influence.     Flameng" 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  2/ 

trained  some  of  the  most  skilful  etchers 
of  the  day,  certainly  the  best  reproduc- 
tive etchers  of  our  time.  Yet  popular 
appreciation  was  slow  in  coming.  Mr. 
Avery  tells  me  that  when  he  visited 
Paris  in  1867,  he  found  the  etchings  of 
Jacque  and  Daubigny  lying  unsold  in 
shops  on  the  quay,  although  the  price 
was  only  a  franc  or  a  franc  and  a  half. 
Desiring  to  obtain  a  complete  set  of 
Daubigny's  etchings,  Mr.  Avery  visited 
the  artist,  who  selected  fifty  proofs  and 
signed  them.  When  the  question  of 
price  arose,  Daubigny  remarked  that 
the  proofs  were  exceptionally  good,  and 
he  thought  them  worth  fully  a  franc, 
about  nineteen  cents,  apiece.  Even  the 
etchings  of  Meryon,  that  strange  origi- 
nal genius,  went  begging  in  company 
with  the  work  of  Delacroix,  Millet,  and 
Jacque.      Chauvel  was  then  a  lithog- 


28 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


rapher.  Fortuny  in  these  years  was 
busying  himself  with  etching,  and  his 
influence  subsequently  became  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of 
the  art. 

Up  to  the  later  sixties,  therefore, 
etching  had  gained  little  hold  upon  the 
general  public  abroad  or  upon  the  artists 
in  this  country.  But  about  this  time  an 
eloquent  evangelist  began  to  preach  the 
gospel  of  the  etching  line  in  England, 
and  the  French  public  began  to  be  af- 
fected by  the  efforts  of  the  energetic 
publisher  A.  Cadart.  I  think  it  hardly 
possible  to  overestimate  the  effect  of 
Mr.  Hamerton's  writings.  In  January, 
1866,  he  published  an  article  upon  etch- 
ing in  the  Fine  Arts  Quarterly  Review, 
and  in  1868  appeared  the  first  edition 
of  his  "  Etching  and  Etchers."  I  deem 
it  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  mod- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  29 

ern  revival  of  etching-  has  been  due  very 
largely  to  this  book.  Mr.  Hamerton 
interested  the  public  as  well  as  artists, 
and  he  gave  an  unprecedented  value  to 
the  work  of  some  men  who  had  re- 
ceived little  general  recognition,  like 
Mr.  Haden  and  Mr.  Whistler.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Channel,  M.  Cadart 
not  only  published  etchings  and  en- 
deavored to  make  them  popular,  but 
helped  to  organize  a  Socidte  des  Aqua- 
jForttstes,  and  essayed  a  black-and-white 
conquest  of  America.  In  1866  an  ex- 
hibition of  French  etchings  and  some 
paintings  was  held  at  No.  625  Broad- 
way, New  York,  under  the  directorship 
of  M.  Cadart.  This  gave  the  general 
public  and  a  majority  of  our  artists  their 
first  opportunity  to  see  a  collection  of 
modern  painters'  etchings.  M.  Cadart 
brought  into  a  rather  feeble  existence 


30  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

an  American  branch  of  the  French  So- 
ciety of  Etchers.  Messrs,  Victor  NehHg 
and  Edwin  Forbes  were  among  the  ear- 
liest members,  and  Mr.  Forbes  etched 
one  or  two  plates  for  the  Society.  Some 
ten  years  afterward  he  was  elected  to 
membership  in  the  old  London  Etching 
Club.  His  war  etchings,  called  "  Life 
Studies  of  the  Great  Army,"  were  pub- 
lished soon  after  the  Cadart  exhibition, 
and  a  set  of  the  first  proofs  was  pur- 
chased by  General  Sherman  for  the 
War  Department  I  believe  that  Mr. 
Forbes  merely  drew  his  design  on  the 
grounded  plates,  leaving  the  biting  and 
printing  to  others.  The  plates  were 
heavily  inked,  and  the  printing  un- 
attended by  the  refinements  first  mas- 
tered by  Paris  publishers.  Thus  etching 
gained  a  foothold  here.  Mr.  Hamer- 
ton's  "  Etcher's  Hand-book,"  Lalanne's 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  3 1 

treatise  on  etching,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  modern  French  etchings  by  vari- 
ous dealers,  strengthened  the  interest 
aroused  by  the  exhibition  of  M.  Cadart. 
Messrs.  Avery,  J.  W.  Bouton,  and  others 
furnished  some  examples  of  Jacque, 
Daubigny,  Jacquemart,  Fortuny,  Ap- 
pian,  Rajon,  and  their  brethren.  Mr. 
F.  B.  Patterson,  who  began  to  deal  in 
portfolios  of  French  etchings  soon  after 
the  Cadart  exhibition,  secured  plates 
and  etcher's  tools  and  endeavored  to 
interest  such  artists  as  Mr.  E.  A.  Abbey 
and  Mr.  C.  S.  Reinhart.  Much  of  the 
print  business  of  fifteen  years  ago  was 
in  the  hands  of  Nassau  Street  book- 
sellers, who  gave  especial  attention  to 
extra  illustrating  books  for  their  pat- 
rons. But  by  degrees  print  collectors 
began  to  look  for  modern  etchings,  and 
a  demand   arose  which,  among  other 


32  ETCHING  hV  AMERICA. 

results,  caused  the  graduation  of  Mr. 
Frederick  Keppel  from  a  down-town 
bookstore  to  rooms  where  the  modern 
French  work  was  honored  with  a  place 
beside  early  prints.  Thus,  early  in  the 
seventies,  English  literature  and  French 
art,  with  the  etchings  of  Mr.  Haden  and 
Mr.  Whistler,  had  begun  to  teach  our 
public  that  the  etching  was  a  desirable 
acquaintance  ;  and  our  artists,  seeing 
that  the  work  of  their  French  brethren 
was  well  received,  fell  to  considering 
whether  they  should  not  go  and  do 
likewise.  The  sowing  of  seed  was 
nearly  at  an  end,  and  the  harvest  time 
at  hand. 

One  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  new  in- 
fluence was  a  series  of  etched  views  of 
old  New  York  by  Mr.  Henry  Farrer, 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  persist- 
ent of  our  present  etchers.      His  rec- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  33 

ords  of  our  picturesque  and  antique 
buildings  were  gathered  into  a  port- 
folio issued  by  Mr.  Patterson  about 
1872. 

Perhaps  half-a-dozen  other  Ameri- 
can artists  were  etching  with  more  or 
less  regularity,  but  they  were  stimu- 
lated rather  by  a  fondness  for  the  art 
and  the  appreciation  of  their  friends 
than  by  the  existence  of  a  general  mar- 
ket. Mr.  A.  W.  Warren,  who  left  New 
York  some  fifteen  years  ago,  to  be- 
come the  Instructor  in  Art  at  Annap- 
olis, used  both  to  etch  and  to  advo- 
cate the  organization  of  an  Etching 
Club  even  at  that  early  date.  In  later 
years  some  of  Mr.  Warren's  etchings 
were  reprinted,  and  with  more  intelli- 
gent printing  they  lost  their  hard,  dry 
appearance,  and  took  on  almost  a  new 
character,  an  experience  shared  by  some 


34  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

of  Mr.  Whistler's  earlier  work.  Mr. 
Warren,  I  believe,  did  not  live  to  see 
the  foundation  of  the  Etching  Society 
which  he  suggested.  The  etchings 
shown  at  our  Centennial  Exhibition, 
which  aroused  a  new  interest  in  every 
form  of  art,  may  have  been  the  imme- 
diate stimulus  to  the  organization  of  the 
New  York  Etching  Club.  This  was 
effected  in  1877,  with  Dr.  Leroy  M. 
Yale  as  the  first  president.  Of  the 
twenty  artists  who  met  in  response  to 
the  call,  "more  than  half  knew  abso- 
lutely nothing  about  the  most  element- 
ary of  the  processes."  Mr.  Smillie, 
whose  well-stored  memory,  accurate 
knowledge,  and  collection  of  prints  have 
been  placed  at  my  service  with  generous 
courtesy,  had  etched  plates  for  several 
years  before  the  organization  of  this 
Club,    and   was   intimately   acquainted 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  35 

with  the  technical  mysteries  of  the  art. 
I  have  seen  etchings  by  Mr.  Peter 
Moran,  published  as  far  back  as  1876; 
and  two  New  York  amateurs — Dr.  Le- 
roy  M.  Yale  and  Mr.  J.  F.  Sabin— 
with  Messrs.  R.  Swain  Gifford  and  F. 
S.  Church,  may  be  counted  among  the 
earlier  proselytes."  Mrs.  M.  N.  Moran, 
Messrs.  Thomas  Moran,  Kruseman  van 
Elten,  and  Samuel  Colman  were  among 
the  early  members  of  the  Etching  Club. 
Mr.  Stephen  Parrish,  who  is  popularly 
held  to  be  a  veteran,  first  published  an 
etching,  "Old  Barn,  Chester  County, 
Pa.,"  in  1879,  and  Mr.  Pennell's  first 
work  was  of  an  even  later  date,  as  was 
his  membership  in  the  New  York  Etch- 
ing Club.  In  the  first  three  years  of 
the  Club's  existence  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty  plates  were  etched  by  mem- 
bers and  discussed  at  the  meetings.  For 


3^  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

two  years — from  1879  to  1881 — selected 
etchings  by  members  were  published  in 
the  American  Art  Review.  This  was 
the  first  introduction  to  our  public  of 
an  association  of  American  etchers.  In 
1 88 1  an  exhibition  of  American  etchings 
was  held  at  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts.  This  included  several  engraver's 
etchings,  dating  back  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  for  it  was  intended  to  illustrate 
the  history  of  the  art  in  this  country  in 
addition  to  presenting  examples  of 
modern  work.  Meanwhile  our  etchers 
were  receiving  encouraging  recognition 
across  the  sea.  In  May,  1881,  the  first 
exhibition  of  the  "  Society  of  Painter- 
Etchers,"  organized  by  Mr.  Haden,  was 
held  in  London.  American  etchers  had 
been  asked  to  contribute.  Some  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  cordial  and 
intelligent   appreciation   of  their  work 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  37 

was  accompanied  by  the  election  of 
several  to  membership  in  the  new  So- 
ciety. These  were  Mrs.  M.  N.  Moran 
and  Messrs.  James  D.  Smillie,  R.  Swain 
Gifford,  Henry  Farrer,  Thomas  Moran, 
J.  M.  Falconer,  A.  F.  Bellows,  Stephen 
Parrish,  F.  S.  Church,  and  F.  Duveneck. 
Other  Americans — Mr.  Pennell,  for  ex- 
ample— were  elected  afterward.  In  1882 
the  New  York  Etching  Club  held  its 
first  formal  exhibition  and  began  the 
publication  of  an  illustrated  catalogue. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  same  year  the 
Philadelphia  Society  of  Etchers  held  its 
first  exhibition,  which  was  enriched  by 
selections  of  prints  from  the  collections 
of  Mr.  James  L.  Claghorn.  Interest 
in  etchings  grew  apace,  stimulated  still 
further  by  Mr.  Haden's  lectures  in  the 
winter  of  1882-83.  Any  personal  ex- 
pression of  his  views  was  probably  un- 


38  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

familiar  to  the  majority  of  those  who 
were  acquainted  with  his  etchings,  al- 
though in  1878  Mr.  Haden  had  pub- 
lished a  treatise,  "  About  Etching," 
which  consisted  of  notes  upon  a  collec- 
tion of  his  own  exhibited  in  London. 
In  this  country  Mr.  Haden  found  artists 
and  collectors  who  were  able  to  meet 
him  upon  the  common  ground  of  an  in- 
telligent and  critical  interest  in  the  art. 
That  he  did  something  toward  placing 
painter-etching  in  its  true  light  before 
our  public  there  can  be  no  doubt.  On 
some  points  he  was  controverted,  but 
the  presence  of  an  etcher  strong  enough 
to  provoke  lively  discussion  was  thor- 
oughly beneficial. 

Anything  like  a  catalogue  raisonni 
of  our  present  etchers  is  impossible 
within  these  modest  limits.  Over  sixty 
American  etchers  contributed  to  the  last 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  39 

exhibition  of  the  New  York  Etching 
Club.  Exhibitions  of  etchings  are  year- 
ly held  in  several  of  our  larger  cities, 
and  tidings  of  the  formation  of  etching 
clubs  come  to  us  even  from  beyond  the 
Canadian  line.  Professional  men  dab- 
ble in  the  art,  and  reduce  staid  house- 
holds to  a  state  of  inkiness  and  despair. 
The  gentler  sex  has  abundantly  dis- 
proved Hood's  lines  on  **  Needlework 
Art,"  which  run — 

"  It  scarce  seems  a  ladylike  art  that  begins 
With  a  scratching,  and  ends  with  a  biting." 

And  yet,  with  all  this  devotion  to  the 
art,  it  cannot  be  said  that  we  have  a 
distinctive  American  school  of  etching. 
No  one  has  as  yet  arisen  among  us 
strong  enough  to  wield  such  an  in- 
fluence as  Flameng  has  exercised  in 
France,  or  Unger  in  Germany,  or  Ha- 


4^  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

den  in  England,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
inspiration  derived  from  Jacquemart, 
Meryon,  Fortuny,  Whistler,  and  Walt- 
ner,  although  Waltner  has  become  a 
professional  copyist.  Our  etching  is  of 
a  composite  character,  showing  traces 
of  both  French  and  English  influence. 
Storm  van  s  Gravesande,  the  delightful 
Belgian  etcher,  whose  collected  works 
were  exhibited  in  New  York  last  win- 
ter, has  probably  aided  in  training  some 
of  our  etchers,  and  others  have  been 
affected  by  Unger  and  his  school. 
Messrs.  Smillie,  Gifford,  Pennell,  Bach- 
er.  Dr.  Yale,  and  at  least  two  members 
of  the  Moran  family,  are  among  those 
who  have  used  the  etching-needle  in 
sketching  directly  from  nature.  Within 
the  last  year  or  two  reproductive  etch- 
ing in  America  has  risen  to  a  place  of 
no   little   importance.     American    etch- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  41 

ings  after  the  old  masters  are  rare,  but 
the  interpretation  of  American  paint- 
ings by  etchers  Hke  Messrs.  Hamilton 
Hamilton,  S.  J.  Ferris,  Thomas  Moran, 
Stephen  Parrish,  Thomas  Hovenden, 
Walter  Shirlaw,  and  others,  is  becoming 
familiar  to  our  public.  The  announce- 
ment that  Mr.  Thomas  Moran  has  etched 
a  large  plate  after  Mr.  Harry  Chase's 
"  Fishing  Boats  at  Anchor,"  or  that  Mr. 
Hovenden  is  engaged  upon  an  etching 
after  his  painting,  "  The  Last  Days  of 
John  Brown,"  excites  no  particular  com- 
ment in  these  days,  but  only  a  few  years 
ago  it  Avould  have  met  with  unintelli- 
gent wonder.  In  spite  of  the  influence 
of  the  French  etchers,  notably,  perhaps, 
Fortuny,  I  think  that  Mr.  Haden  has 
exercised  a  stronger  personal  influence 
upon  our  artists  than  any  other  etcher, 
although  Mr.  Whistler  is  a  close  sec- 


42  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

ond.  Traces  of  these  different  sources 
of  inspiration  can  be  detected  in  every 
Etching  Club  exhibition.  If  Mr.  Whist- 
ler were  a  resident  of  his  native  coun- 
try, he  would  have  given  a  strong  im- 
petus to  the  development  of  the  art. 
As  it  is,  his  earlier  etchings  of  scenes 
along  the  Thames  have  exercised  a 
stronger  effect  than  his  later  work.  Mr. 
Duveneck  we  can  hardly  claim  as  an 
American  etcher.  In  quick  mastery  of 
materials  and  ready  adaptability  it  would 
be  hard  to  surpass  our  etchers ;  but  want 
of  originality,  lack  of  the  personal  in- 
spiration behind  the  executing  instru- 
ment, the  timidity  or  presumption  of 
inexperience,  and  want  of  training — in 
drawing,  for  example  —  are  betrayed 
upon  the  copper  plate  as  easily  as  upon 
the  canvas.  There  are  too  many  open- 
ings for  such  criticisms  in  our  exhibi- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  43 

tions  of  etchings.  But  criticism  is  met 
by  one  fact.  All  this  production  of  etch- 
ings has  been  evolved  from  nothing 
within  a  very  few  years.  A  new  field 
has  been  opened  in  American  art,  and 
although  its  produce  may  not  be  per- 
fect, its  fruitfulness  is  better  than  ste- 
rility. 

With  the  general  public  our  etchers 
are  faring  well,  but  our  print-collectors 
are  beginning  once  more  to  pass  by 
on  the  other  side.  It  is  true  that  the 
print-collector  ordinarily  concerns  him- 
self but  little  with  the  work  of  his  own 
time.  His  luxurious  dilettanteism  —  I 
use  the  word  in  no  unkindly  sense — 
has  passed  into  a  proverb.  To  the  col- 
lectors of  early  engravings  the  history 
of  the  world  begins,  not  perhaps  with 
Finiguerra,  but  certainly  with  Marc  An- 
tonio   Raimondi,  Schongauer,  and  the 


44  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

great  Albert  Durer.  For  him  the  names 
of  Edelinck,  Nanteuil,  Drevet,  John 
George  Wille,  famous  for  his  pupils  as 
for  his  work,  Friedrich  Miiller,  whose 
memory  will  last  until  Raphael's  Sistine 
Madonna  is  forgotten,  and  the  Italian 
engravers,  from  Raphael  Morghen  to 
Toschi,  interpret  the  history  of  differ- 
ent nations  in  succeeding  generations. 
England  means  Sir  Robert  Strange, 
William  Sharp,  and  William  Woollet. 
The  history  of  the  world  came  to  an 
end  some  seventy  years  ago,  and  now, 
says  the  collector,  there  is  but  one 
line-engraver  living,  if  indeed  he  still 
lives — the  German  Mandel/  Mingled 
with  his  engravings  the  collector  will 
have  etchings,  but  his  dreams  are  of 
rare  states  of  Rembrandt,  Van  Ostade, 
Claude,  Ruysdael,  Paul  Potter,  Dujar- 
din,  Van  Dyck,  and  other  departed  mas- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  45 

ters.  His  bible  is  not  Hamerton,  but 
Bartsch,  which  he  revises  himself  by  the 
aid  of  Passavant  and  Thausing,  with 
possible  occasional  references  to  Bry- 
an's "  Dictionary  of  Painters  and  En- 
gravers." He  is  in  this  century,  but  not 
of  it.  And  yet  the  renaissance  of  etch- 
ing in  this  generation  arouses  for  a 
time  the  attention  of  the  print-collector. 
Once  in  a  while  some  event  like  the 
sale  of  the  Claghorn  collection  brings 
into  public  notice  the  prints  gathered 
by  our  amateurs,  but  for  the  most  part 
the  public  is  quite  unconscious  of  these 
treasures. 

Perhaps  the  late  Francis  C.  Gray,  of 
Boston,  may  be  counted  as  "  the  patri- 
arch and  facile  princeps  of  the  tribe," 
to  use  the  words  of  an  eminent  collector. 
Of  him  my  informant  writes :  "  He  made 
a  large  assemblage  of  engravings  in  the 


4^  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

early  part  of  the  century,  but,  although  a 
man  of  great  taste  and  general  knowl- 
edge in  letters  as  well  as  in  art,  he  had 
not  the  requisite  perceptions  for  a  dis- 
criminating collector.  Some  forty  years 
ago,  however,  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  German  connoisseur,  Mr. 
Thies,  and  under  that  gentleman's  ad- 
vice added  to  his  portfolios  many  very 
fine  specimens  of  the  highest  quality  in 
etching  and  engraving.  The  whole  was 
bequeathed  at  his  death,  about  1856,  to 
Harvard .  College,  after  which  a  cata- 
logtie  raisonnd  was  edited  by  Mr.  Thies. 
[This  collection  is  now  at  the  Boston 
Museum  of  Art.]  The  late  Mr.  Phillips, 
of  Philadelphia,  was  a  contemporary  of 
Mr.  Gray,  and  likewise  accumulated  a 
very  large  stock  of  prints  between  1820 
and  i860.  I  think,  but  am  not  sure, 
that  it  was  he  who  inoculated  the  late 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  47 

Mr.  Claghorn  with  the  chalcographic 
virus.  At  any  rate,  they  were  close 
friends.  Mr.  PhilHps  bequeathed  his 
collection  to  the  Pennsylvania  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts.  I  spent  a  day  in  1855  ^'■^ 
Mr.  Phillips'  sanctum,  looking  over  his 
things,  but  they  betrayed  rather  the 
cacoethes  habendi  than  cavendo  ttchtni, 
which  should  be  the  motto  of  the  true 
collector,  for  there  is  no  end  of  prints." 
In  New  York,  the  earliest  collectors 
were  Michael  Paff,  John  Allen,  and 
Ithiel  Town.  Mr.  Paff,  who  is  still  well 
remembered,  was,  in  1840,  the  lead- 
ing dealer  in  prints  and  pictures.  The 
engravings  collected  by  John  Allen 
were  chiefly  of  the  English  and  French 
schools  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
catalogue  of  these  prints,  which  were 
sold  in  1864,  included  six  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  numbers.      Mr.   Pickering, 


48  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

an  American  residing  for  some  time  in 
London,  collected  many  good  English 
prints,  which  were  sold  in  1826  at  an 
auction-house  in  Wall  Street,  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  Phoenix  Bank. 
A  veteran  print-collector  writes  me:  "I 
have  further  to  mention  the  name  of 
Robert  Balmanno,  very  noted  among 
English  collectors.  He  came  to  America 
about  1829 — died,  in  Brooklyn,  in  1861. 
The  most  of  his  prints  were  sold  in 
London  in  1828,  but  he  brought  with 
him  many  fine  specimens  of  the  early 
masters,  which  were  gradually  disposed 
of  during  his  residence  here.  Still  an- 
other old  collector  of  note  in  this  city 
was  the  French  Consul-General,  M.  de 
la  Forest,  long  resident  in  New  York, 
but  who  retired  to  France  on  the  abdi- 
cation of  Louis  Philippe,  in  1848.  He 
had  many  old  prints,  a  sale  of  which 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  49 

(said,  however,  not  to  have  included 
the  choicer  specimens)  took  place  in 
1849."  Mr.  E.  L.  Corwin  made  a  large 
collection  of  prints  before  1800,  favoring 
engravings  by  Bartolozzi.  Mr.  Emil 
Seitz  is  mentioned  as  the  first  to  enter 
upon  the  business  of  deaHng  in  old 
prints  in  New  York.  When  Mr.  Henry 
F.  Sewall  began  his  rarely  successful 
career  as  a  collector,  in  1847,  he  was, 
with  the  exception  of  a  Scotchman  tem- 
porarily resident  here,  the  only  Ameri- 
can correspondent  of  Edward  Evans, 
then  the  chief  print-seller  of  London. 
The  latter  sent  out  by  sailing-vessels 
portfolios  of  prints  from  which  Mr.  Sew- 
all  made  his  selections,  thus  beginning 
a  collection  chosen  with  singular  dis- 
crimination, and  now  famous  among 
print  lovers.  Mr.  James  L.  Claghorn, 
of  Philadelphia,  began  his  collection 
3 


50  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  - 

about  1857,  and  I  suppose  brought  to- 
gether a  larger  number  of  prints  than 
any  other  American.  This  collection, 
after  futile  efforts  to  secure  it  for  the 
government  or  some  public  institution, 
was  recently  bought  by  Mr.  T.  Harri- 
son Garrett,  of  Baltimore.  Modern  as 
well  as  early  prints  filled  Mr.  Claghorn's 
portfolios.  Over  his  nearly  complete 
set  of  Dr.  Haden's  etchings  he  lingered 
perhaps  as  lovingly  as  over  his  rare 
group  of  engravings  by  Toschi  after 
Correggio.  He  owned  one  of  the  few 
impressions  taken  from  the  little  gold 
plate  upon  which  the  Crucifixion  was 
engraved  by  Albert  Diirer  to  be  in- 
serted in  the  head  of  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian's favorite  walking-stick.  He  ac- 
quired other  work  by  the  masters,  but 
when  the  etchings  of  Delacroix,  Jacque, 
Daubigny,   and   Meissonier   showed  a 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  5^ 

coming  revival  in  the  art,  he  turned  to 
modern  prints,  manifesting-  his  interest 
finally,  I  fear,  with  more  liberality  than 
discretion.  Mr.  S.  P.  Avery's  fine  col- 
lection includes  not  only  almost  un- 
attainable proofs  from  plates  etched  by 
the  modern  French  masters,  but  also 
etchings  by  Haden  and  Whistler,  which 
neither  the  artists  nor  the  British  Mu- 
seum possess.  It  was  their  habit  to  take 
their  plates  to  a  Paris  printer,  and  if  the 
first  impressions  were  unsatisfactory, 
they  would  throw  aside  the  proofs  and 
re-work  or  perhaps  destroy  the  plates. 
The  printer  obediently  crumpled  up  and 
apparently  threw  away  the  proofs,  but 
after  the  artists  had  gone  he  carefully 
gathered  up  the  unique  impressions, 
tenderly  smoothed  them  out,  and  pre- 
served them.  Mr.  Avery  v/as  one  of 
the  first  to  enter  Paris  after  the  siege, 


52  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

and  going  to  this  printer,  he  found  him 
sitting  in  a  room  which  gaped  with  holes 
made  by  Prussian  shells,  but  the  prints 
were  safe,  and  of  some  Mr.  Avery  be- 
came the  owner.  When  Dr.  Haden 
visited  this  country  he  was  surprised  to 
find  in  Mr.  Avery's  collection  prints  of 
his  own  which  he  supposed  were  not  in 
existence,  which  he  certainly  could  not 
duplicate.  Mr.  Avery  has  over  four  hun- 
dred etchings  by  Jacque  alone.  But  of 
print-collecting,  as  of  prints,  there  is  no 
end,  and  the  bare  mention  of  a  few 
American  collectors  must  suffice.  The 
list  is  by  no  means  exhausted  with  the 
names  of  Professor  Charles  E.  West,  of 
Brooklyn ;  the  Honorable  C.  S.  Bradley 
and  Royal  Taft,  of  Providence,  R.  I.; 
Dr.  Karmann  and  William  Henry  Da- 
vis, of  Cincinnati ;  Henry  T.  Field  and 
George  A.  Armour,  of  Chicago.   Messrs. 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  53 

Robert  Hoe,  Jr.,  and  Henry  G.  Mar- 
quand  are  among-  the  many  New  York 
owners  of  prints.  In  this  city,  as  in 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Providence, 
small  collections  are  numerous,  some- 
times containing  prints  of  exceptional 
worth. 

For  a  time,  as  I  have  said,  the  print- 
collectors  have  dabbled  in  modern  etch- 
ings, but  experts  testify  that  they  are 
returning  to  the  old  line  engravings  and 
the  etchings  of  the  early  masters.  In 
this  field  the  collector  can  secure,  if  not 
unique,  at  least  extremely  rare  impres- 
sions ;  but  hundreds  of  others  may  share 
his  ownership  of  a  modern  etching-,  and 
amiable  selfishness  has  much  to  do  with 
print-collecting.  The  artistic  status  of 
these  early  prints  is  fixed.  They  will 
not  be  surpassed.  Moreover,  they  can 
be  measured  by  an  assured  standard, 


54  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

and  their  value  increases  every  year. 
Here  the  collector  feels  that  he  has 
something  to  go  upon,  and  we  cannot 
blame  him,  since  his  search  for  prints 
recognized  as  the  standards  in  work 
with  the  burin  or  needle  may  ultimately 
aid  the  education  of  our  public.  In 
modern  etching,  notwithstanding  the 
enormous  production,  the  masters  have 
been  but  few.  And  it  is  this  very  pro- 
ductiveness which  discourages  the  print- 
collector,  and  will,  I  think,  overshoot  its 
mark.  Any  demand  in  this  age  is  fos- 
tered, and  all  the  resources  of  active 
brains  are  taxed  for  its  supply.  The  ex- 
istence of  a  demand  for  etchings  caused 
the  invention  of  a  process  for  steel- 
facing  the  plates  by  the  aid  of  electricity. 
The  superior  resistance  of  steel  over 
copper  secures  the  printing  of  a  larger 
edition.     A  good  printer  will  detect  the 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  55- 

first  signs  of  wear  in  the  steel  facing, 
and  will  substitute  another,  thus  further 
increasing  the  edition.  In  some  cases 
the  original  plates  are  electrotyped,  and 
the  printing  is  done  entirely  from  the 
electrotypes.  As  regards  the  steel  fac- 
ing, it  may  be  said  that  Mr.  Haden, 
whose  later  plates  have  been  steel-faced, 
has  acknowledged  that  he  could  not  tell 
by  examining  an  etching  whether  the 
plate  had  been  steel-faced  or  not.  With 
intelligent  printing  the  result  is  as  satis- 
factory in  one  case  as  the  other.  Proba- 
bly few  laymen  could  detect  prints  from 
electrotypes.  But  some  of  the  Paris 
publishers  have  injured  etchings  by  their 
hasty,  perfunctory,  and  mechanical  labor 
to  supply  the  market.  Not  many  years 
ago  Paris  was  deemed  the  only  place 
where  etchings  could  be  satisfactorily 
printed,  but  our  artists  have  long  since 


5^  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

willingly  intrusted  their  plates  to  Amer- 
ican printers,  and  much  of  the  cheaper 
Paris  printing  is  disappointing.  Now, 
such  mechanical  aids  as  these  just  re- 
ferred to  increase  the  number  of  etch- 
ings to  an  extent  which  may  be  a  mat- 
ter for  congratulation  or  for  alarm. 
Moreover,  there  are  other  devices  which 
tend  in  the  same  direction.  In  "  typo- 
graphic etching"  no  acid  is  used,  but 
after  the  lines  have  been  cut  through  the 
ground  upon  the  plate,  the  untouched 
portions  of  the  ground  are  carefully  built 
up  with  wax,  until  the  plate  becomes  a 
mould  for  the  electrotyper.  In  "white 
line  etching"  the  usual  procedure  is  re- 
versed, and  the  artist  draws  the  whites 
in  his  subject  on  the  grounded  plate, 
leaving  undisturbed  the  parts  which  will 
ultimately  be  printed,  as  in  wood-en- 
graving.    This  process,  however,  can 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  S7 

hardly  be  regarded  as  worth  much  con- 
sideration. Mr.  Amand-Durand,  with 
the  help  of  a  Scottish  artist,  Mr.  George 
Reid,  has  perfected  a  process  in  which 
the  artist  has  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  plate.  His  part  ends  with  the 
making  of  a  pen-drawing  on  white  pa- 
per. This  is  transferred  to  the  ground- 
ed plate  by  photography.  The  ground 
is  so  prepared  that  the  spaces  between 
the  lines  of  the  drawing  will  be  insolu- 
ble in  water,  while  the  lines  themselves 
can  be  easily  washed  out  in  warm  water. 
Then  the  plate  is  ready  for  biting  and 
retouching  if  necessary — matters  at- 
tended to  by  a  professional  engraver. 
Mr.  Hamerton  considers  that  "  the  re- 
sult is  just  as  much  a  real  etching  on 
copper  as  an  original  plate  by  Rem- 
brandt, the  essential  difference  being 
that  the  drawing  is  done  on  paper  by 


58  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

one  artist,  and  all  the  work  on  copper 
by  another."  He  even  finds  this  pro- 
cess superior,  since  a  drawing  in  black 
ink  on  white  paper  shows  the  intended 
effect  at  once,  and  the  artist  can  see  it, 
instead  of  calculating  it  like  an  etcher. 
With  all  the  mechanical  aids  which  the 
production  of  etchings  is  receiving,  it 
would  seem  that  they  may  ere  long 
be  turned  out  as  easily  and  plentifully 
as  process-prints.  A  hasty  pen-and-ink 
sketch  may  be  magnified  into  thousands 
of  etchings  within  a  few  days.  Engrav- 
ing deteriorated  in  this  way  even  in  the 
last  generation,  owing  to  a  demand  for 
an  abundance  of  cheap  work.  There  is 
danger,  it  seems  to  me,  that  this  may 
happen  to  etching.  It  is  somewhat  sur- 
prising to  find  Mr.  Hamerton  eulogizing 
a  semi-mechanical  process  in  as  high 
terms  as  he  employed  in  describing  the 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  59 

beauties  of  the  line  traced  by  the  hand 
of  the  artist  upon  copper,  and  its  "  vel- 
vety richness  "  in  the  printing. 

The  demand  indicated  by  this  great 
output  of  etchings  is  seldom  analyzed. 
In  this  country,  for  example,  do  the 
scores  of  thousands  who  buy  etchings 
feel  the  intrinsic  individuality  and  free- 
dom of  the  etcher's  line  ?  Do  they 
choose  etchings  because  their  eyes  are 
educated  to  see  the  superiority  of  the 
etcher's  work  over  that  of  the  engraver  ? 
Does  an  etching  appeal  to  them  with  a 
personal  force  which  they  do  not  find 
in  a  photogravure  ?  Is  it  for  art's  sake 
that  they  take  the  etching,  or  is  it  for 
the  sake  of  fashion  ?  Let  us  be  candid. 
The  wholesale  buying  of  etchings  which 
has  developed  within  the  last  ten  years 
does  not  mean  that  all  this  army  of 
buyers  has  suddenly  been  educated  up 


6o 


ETCHING  JiV  AMERICA. 


to  a  point  of  discriminating  apprecia- 
tion. It  does  not  mean  that  all  the  peo- 
ple who  go  to  choose  etchings  with  a 
text  from  Hamerton  in  their  mouths  can 
give  intelligent  reasons  for  their  choice. 
Mr.  Hamerton's  writings  have  been  read 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  it 
has  dawned  upon  many  readers  that  a 
liking  for  etchings  is  an  evidence  of 
a  refined  and  cultivated  taste.  Is  it  not 
more  reasonable  to  believe  that  Mr. 
Hamerton  and  other  influences  have 
popularized  etchings,  than  that  the  in- 
nate intelligence  of  a  people  without 
special  experience  or  knowledge  in  mat- 
ters of  art  has  caused  this  preference 
for  the  etcher's  work  ?  In  other  words, 
it  has  become  fashionable  to  show  an 
interest  in  and  love  for  etchings,  just  as 
it  has  been  the  fashion  to  claim  all  sorts 
of  beauties  for  any  canvas  bearing  the 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


6i 


names  of  the  painters  of  Fontainebleau, 
Barbizon,  and  Ville  d'Avray.  Fickle 
fashion  is  an  unreliable  factor  in  the 
building  up  of  an  art,  and  there  are 
siofns  that  a  reaction  is  close  at  hand. 
This  will  cause  a  process  of  elimination, 
resulting  in  the  survival  of  the  etchers 
who  are  best  equipped  for  their  work, 
and  of  the  buyers  who  have  acquired 
a  genuine  appreciation  of  etchings. 

Mr.  Frederick  Keppel  has  kindly  pre- 
pared for  me  a  memorandum  of  his 
sales  of  modern  etchings  for  a  given 
month  —  March  —  in  every  year  since 
1875.  This  shows  the  proportion  of  the 
sales  of  modern  etchings  to  the  total 
sales,  and  the  figures  are  as  follows : 


1875 2  percent. 

1876 2   " 

1877 9i  " 

1878 21   " 

1879 9   " 


1880 15  percent. 

1881 26   " 

1882 33   " 

1883 73   " 


62  ETCHLVG   IN  AMERICA. 

In  March,  1884,  the  percentage  fell  to 
sixty  per  cent,  and  in  1885  was  nearly 
the  same,  or  sixty-two  per  cent.  The 
striking  increase  from  two  per  cent.,  in 
1875,  to  y^  per  cent.,  in  1883,  certainly 
suggests  the  question  whether  such  a 
rapid  gain  can  be  permanent.  Mr.  Kep- 
pel  writes :  "  The  figures  for  the  whole 
year  would  probably  alter  these  some- 
what, but  as  they  are  they  show  pretty 
well  what  etchings  have  been  doing  in 
the  last  ten  years.  Though  etchings  are 
still  sought  for  by  many  buyers,  there  is 
certainly  an  increasing  demand  for  fine 
engravings ;  at  least  we  find  it  so  here." 
I  have  no  doubt  that  Messrs.  Wunder- 
lich,  Buonaventure,  and  other  printsell- 
ers  would  tell  a  similar  story.  They 
would  probably  confirm  Mr.  Keppel's 
testimony  that  the  print-collectors  on 
the  one  hand  are  going  back  to  early 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  63 

engravings  and  etchings,  and  that  the 
popular  demand  is  slowly  abating.  An 
eminent  etcher  has  said  to  me :  "  The 
craze  for  etchings  is  like  the  craze  for 
roller-skating.  It  will  pass  away."  His 
expression  admits  of  some  modification. 
People  who  simply  want  pictures  at  a 
smaller  cost  than  oil-paintings  are  apt 
to  demand  **  as  much  of  a  picture  as 
possible  for  their  money."  To  them  a 
freely-drawn  sketch  of  a  Thames  scene 
by  Whistler  is  not  "enough  of  a  pict- 
ure." They  look  for  something  which 
will  make  a  better  showing  on  their 
walls.  Out  of  twenty  men,  nineteen  will 
admire  mechanical  excellence,  nicety  of 
finish,  for  one  who  will  appreciate  artis- 
tic feeling.  And  yet  this  does  not  mean 
the  downfall  of  etching,  but  it  does  sug- 
gest the  necessity  of  confining  etching  to 
its  own  appropriate  and  individual  role. 


64  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

This  popular  demand  for  elaboration 
has  already  injured  etching  by  blurring 
its  distinctive  character.  Is  it  not  true 
that,  as  regards  the  popular  methods 
of  etching,  the  pendulum  is  swinging 
back  to  the  engraver-etching,  which 
alone  represented  the  art  in  the  past? 
In  the  early  days  of  the  modern  revival, 
Mr.  Hamerton  fixed  a  standard  based 
upon  the  work  of  the  great  etchers.  He 
wrote :  "  To  feel  vividly,  to  be  possessed 
for  a  few  hours  by  some  overmastering 
thought,  and  record  the  thought  before 
the  fire  has  time  to  die  out  of  it,  this  is 
the  first  condition  of  success  in  etching." 
Mr.  Haden  said:  "The  point  must  be 
the  voice  that  ever  runs  ahead  of  the 
art  inspiration,  recording  the  heat  of 
passionate  inspiration."  It  was  as  a 
direct  autographic  expression  in  linear 
form  that  we  were  taught  to  prize  the 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  6$ 

etching ;  but  what  a  change  has  come 
even  in  this  short  time  !  In  England, 
the  places  of  honor  are  accorded  to  the 
etchings  of  Frederick  Slocombe,  R.  W. 
Macbeth,  M.  S.  Menpes,  C.  O.  Murray, 
and  others  in  whose  hands  the  auto- 
graphic treatment  of  lines  is  replaced 
by  attempts  at  elaborate  gradations  of 
tones,  aided  by  the  use  of  the  burin, 
roller,  scraper,  and  of  retroussage  or 
any  help  that  the  printer  can  give.  Such 
efforts  at  tonality  and  the  attainment  of 
all  the  values  possible  in  the  range  be- 
tween black  and  white,  appear  even  in 
Mr.  Hamerton's  own  journal.  The  Port- 
/olio,  with  his  endorsement.  If  Mr. 
Hamerton  has  been  converted  to  the 
doctrine  of  elaboration,  the  art  of  etch- 
ing is  sadly  in  need  of  a  new  evangelist. 
Mr.  Haden's  "passionate  inspiration" 
is  at  present   expended  upon   mezzo- 


66  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

tints.  In  France,  professional  repro- 
ductive etching  has  far  outstripped  the 
freer  work  of  painter-etchers.  Among 
the  followers  of  Flameng,  a  score  or 
more  might  be  named  who  send  us  en- 
graver-etchings executed  with  wonder- 
ful skill  and  subtlety,  but  this  is  not 
the  kind  of  achievement  that  made  the 
school  of  Rembrandt  immortal.  In  our 
own  Etching  Club  Exhibitions,  Mr.  Far- 
rer's  careful  attention  to  tonality,  and 
some  examples  by  Messrs.  Hamilton 
Hamilton,  Thomas  Hovenden,  J.  S. 
King,  Benjamin  Lander,  and  others, 
have  shown  the  same  tendency  to  elabo- 
ration. In  reproductive  etching  this  is 
expected  to  a  certain  extent;  but  Mr. 
Hamerton,  although  his  profession  of 
faith  is  hardly  borne  out  by  his  subse- 
quent practices,  has  shown  the  danger  of 
attempted  imitation  of  "the  minute  inter- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  6/ 

mediate  tones  attained  in  true  chiaros- 
curo methods,"  and  has  warned  etchers 
to  "  suggest "  tones  which  cannot  be 
given  accurately,  instead  of  "  laboriously- 
trying  to  imitate  paintings  tone  by  tone." 
The  tendency  toward  elaborate  work 
is  not  confined  to  reproductive  etching, 
but  I  think  that  the  etchers  make  a  mis- 
take who  endeavor  to  attract  the  public 
by  a  high  degree  of  mechanical  excel- 
lence. For  they  not  only  enter  the 
field  of  the  engraver,  but  they  place 
themselves  in  competition  with  photog- 
raphy as  employed  in  the  printing-press. 
There  are  processes,  especially  those  as- 
sociated with  the  names  Amand-Durand 
and  Goupil,  which  are  likely  to  take  a 
strong  hold  upon  the  public  fancy.  I 
have  seen  a  reproduction  by  Amand- 
Durand  of  a  print  by  Albert  Durer,  the 
exactitude  of  which  was  wonderful,  and 


68 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 


this  process  is  to  be  employed,  I -be- 
lieve, in  the  republication  of  rare  prints 
contemplated  by  the  Chalcographical 
Society.  Take  some  of  the  plates  re- 
cently published  by  Messrs.  Boussod, 
Valadon  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  and  note  the 
development  of  the  Goupil  photo-en- 
graving process  and  its  combination 
with  the  etching-needle  until  the  result, 
an  English  writer  says,  "has  almost  as 
good  a  right  to  be  called  an  etching  as 
a  photo-gravure."  The  brain  impulse, 
which  should  be  behind  the  etcher's  line, 
is  too  precious  to  be  wasted  in  working 
and  re- working  a  plate  into  a  semblance 
of  a  photo-engraving.  Etching  is  not  an 
imitative  art,  for  there  are  no  lines  in 
nature  and  the  etching  line  is  conven- 
tional. But  it  is  suggestive,  and  this  is 
enough.  Mr.  Haden  has  said :  "  The 
properties  of  the  etching  line  are  almost 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  ©9 

wholly  mental,  consisting  of  personality, 
actuality,  and  originality.  We  can  recog- 
nize the  line  of  Rembrandt  or  Claude." 
Could  we  recognize  an  individual  artist's 
line  in  some  of  the  popular  modern  etch- 
ings ?  Now  American  etching  has  pro- 
duced a  surprising  quantity  of  good 
work,  and  some  much  more  than  good, 
within  a  very  short  time.  The  faithful 
labor  and  creditable  achievements  of  our 
etchers  must  be  recognized  by  every 
student  of  the  subject.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  if 
our  etchers  are  to  make  themselves  felt 
as  artists,  they  must  avoid  certain  ten- 
dencies of  the  present  day.  In  all  art, 
simplicity  is  best.  An  etching  which  may 
be  popularly  termed  "only  a  sketch," 
may  show  not  only  more  vital  energy, 
but  far  more  profound  knowledge  than 
another  finished  like  an  engraving.  O  nly 


70  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

a  master  of  his  art  can  venture  upon 
the  sketchy  manner  which  so  often 
tempts  ignorance  into  self-betrayal.  The 
painter-etcher  knows  that  tact  in  omis- 
sion is  a  test  of  his  understanding  of 
his  art,  and  omissions  may  reveal  more 
peculiar  aptness  than  the  treatment  of 
parts  presented  in  the  composition.  If 
etching  is  to  be  confounded  with  semi- 
mechanical  methods  of  reproduction,  the 
modern  revival  will  have  occurred  in 
vain.  But  the  path  for  our  artists  to 
follow  seems  to  me  sufficiently  clear. 
They  must  go  back  to  etching  as  it  was 
practised  by  the  masters  ;  as  Mr.  Ham- 
erton  explained  it  in  his  earlier  writings. 
They  must  invest  etching  with  a  distinct 
individual  character,  not  attempting  to 
make  it  more  than  it  is,  not  consenting 
to  lower  its  intrinsic  worth.  The  time 
has  come  when  our  people  wish  to  see 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  7' 

for  themselves  in  etchings  the  precise 
merits  which  they  have  taken  on  faith 
from  Mr.  Hamerton.  It  rests  with  our 
artists  to  maintain  the  rank  of  pure  etch- 
ing. The  fashion  of  admiring  etchings 
may  pass,  but,  Hke  all  such  fancies,  it 
will  leave  much  good  behind.  It  has 
taught  many  to  study  etchings  carefully, 
and  thus  insured  a  permanent  and  in- 
telligent, if  smaller,  audience  for  our 
etchers.  The  number  of  etchers  may 
diminish  with  the  ebbing  of  the  popular 
tide ;  but  the  strongest,  who  remain, 
will  be  put  upon  their  mettle,  and  even 
if  the  number  of  American  etchings  de- 
creases, I  think  that  a  cultivated  taste 
may  find  sufficient  consolation  in  im- 
proved quality  for  any  falling  off  in  quan- 
tity. If  American  etching  shall  come  to 
be  recognized  as  creative  work,  dis- 
tinguished by  its  simplicity  of  expres* 


72  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

sion,  its  forcefulness  of  execution,  and 
its  distinct  personal  element,  we  may  be 
sure  that  the  art  will  receive  a  rational 
appreciation. 

These  generalities  can  be  readily  il- 
lustrated. Twenty  years  ago,  and  less, 
the  public  demand  for  prints  was  satis- 
fied with  steel  engravings.  It  is  now 
nearly  ten  years  since  the  steel  engrav- 
ing was  sent  to  keep  company  with 
black-walnut,  horse-hair  furniture  and 
white-marble  mantels.  Here  is  one  ad- 
vance, due  partly,  as  I  have  indicated, 
to  fashion,  and  partly,  also,  to  a  real  per- 
ception of  the  superior  freedom  of  the 
etcher's  work  and  the  superior  softness 
and  richness  of  the  line  etched  upon 
copper.  At  first  there  was  a  general 
preference  for  the  etchings  which,  in 
workmanship,  most  closely  resembled 
the  old  steel  engraving,  like  the  etch- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  73 

ings  of  the  late  A.  F.  Bellows.  But  just 
as  the  print-collectors,  who  began  by- 
acquiring  every  new  etching,  were  soon 
forced  by  the  great  production  to  pause, 
and  to  substitute  careful  selection  for 
wholesale  acquisition,  so  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  public  has  learned  to  exercise 
intelligent  discrimination  in  the  choice  of 
etchings,  and  there  is  the  testimony  of 
the  print-sellers  that  the  number  of  these 
has  greatly  increased  within  the  last  six 
years.  And  with  the  increase  of  a  class 
who  prefer  expressive  simplicity  to  the 
elaboration  of  the  etcher,  who  "  tells  all 
he  knows"  at  tedious  length,  and  who 
look  for  imagination  and  suggestiveness 
instead  of  facts  and  details,  the  etcher 
will  feel  the  growing  pressure  of  a 
healthier  stimulus.  From  this,  and  from 
the  competition  of  purely  mechanical 
work,  there  may  come  a  process  of  elim- 


74  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

inatlon  resulting  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  etchers ;  or,  at  least,  the  line  will 
become  more  sharply  drawn,  more  ap- 
parent to  the  public. 

But  there  is  a  limit  to  the  develop- 
ment of  public  taste.  The  painter-etch- 
ing, which  connoisseurs  and  collectors 
prize  for  certain  subtle  qualities  of  line 
or  light  and  shade,  is  usually  less  inter- 
esting to  the  public,  and  this,  I  think, 
will  always  be  the  case.  But,  granting 
this,  it  is  not  necessary  to  fall  back 
upon  the  merely  "  pictorial "  or  "  dec- 
orative "  style  of  etching  which,  within 
the  last  three  years,  has  been  too  much 
in  vogue.  Much  of  this  is  "  painter- 
etching,"  technically  considered,  for  the 
artist  has  etched  his  own  picture.  Few 
members  of  the  New  York  Etching 
Club  have  done  any  reproductive  etch- 
ing of  consequence,  and  reproductive 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  75 

etchers  are  still,  of  course,  in  a  minority, 
although  the  amount  of  reproductive 
work  has  increased  so  much  that  it  has 
gained  a  distinct  place  in  American 
etching.  And  it  goes  without  saying 
that  reproductive  etching  has  its  place 
everywhere.  But  all  "painter-etching" 
is  not  pure  etching,  nor  fairly  represent- 
ative of  the  art,  and  those  who  do  not 
go  beyond  this  term  must  expect  plenty 
of  "  pretty  "  subjects  treated  in  a  "  pic- 
torial "  and,  it  may  be  added,  a  commer- 
cial way.  Happily,  some  American  ar- 
tists furnish  excellent  illustrations  of 
pure  etching  which  are  within  the  reach 
of  every  one.  Their  subjects  in  them^ 
selves  are  not  uninteresting,  and  their 
methods  are  for  the  most  part  appro- 
priate. 

Mr.  Whistler's  etchings,  despite  his 
real    eminence,  and,   shall    I    say,   his 


76  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

notoriety,  still  appeal  to  connoisseurs 
rather  than  to  our  pubUc.  But,  looking 
over  some  portfolios  of  etchings  before 
me,  I  find  work  by  American  members 
of  what  may  be  termed  the  school  of 
Whistler,  Messrs.  Duveneck,  Pennell, 
and  Bacher,  which  will  interest  both 
the  connoisseur  and  the  public.  Now, 
Mr.  Whistler's  etchings  offer  one  of 
the  best  possible  illustrations  of  the 
art  of  expressing  much  with  apparently 
slight  means,  of  true  suggestiveness, 
and  his  figures  in  his  best  work  have  a 
distinctly  human  significance,  which  is 
one  of  the  artist's  individual  successes. 
Here,  to  leave  Mr.  Whistler,  who  is 
American  only  by  the  accident  of  birth, 
both  Messrs.  Duveneck  and  Bacher 
fail.  Their  figures  are  often  wraith-like, 
impersonal,  unmeaning  incidents  of  ar- 
chitectural studies  or  waterscapes,  and 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  77 

this  is  especially  disappointing  in  Mr. 
Bacher's  etchings,  because  figures  form 
no  inconsiderable  part  of  his  compo- 
sitions. Mr.  Duveneck  deals  in  con- 
trasts, suggesting  much,  never  aiming 
at  delicate  tonic  gradations.  As  ex- 
amples of  not  unpopular  subjects  treated 
in  a  free,  autographic  manner,  yet  with 
pictorial  concessions,  I  may  instance 
two  of  his  most  recent  etchings :  first, 
"  Desdemona's  House,  Venice ;  "  and, 
second,  "  The  Rialto."  As  embodying 
simplicity  of  method,  and  sufficiency 
and  harmony  of  effect,  there  is  Mr. 
Bacher's  "  The  Lido,  Venice,"  with  his 
"Entrance  to  the  Grand  Canal, Venice," 
which  shows  some  of  his  happiest  archi- 
tectural work.  Next  come  some  im- 
pressions which  will  do  more  than  any 
printed  arguments  to  shed  light  upon 
that  much  vexed  question  of  **  adventi- 


78  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

tious  aid "  in  printing.  Here  is  Mr. 
Bacher's  "  Lustheim,"  printed  with  and 
without  retroussage;  that  is,  the  dragging 
of  the  ink  out  of  the  intagHo  Hnes  in  the 
plate  by  means  of  a  soft  rag  passed 
lightly  over  them.  The  etching,  simply 
printed,  is  an  outline  drawing,  which 
will  be  deemed  a  skeleton  by  one  who 
asks  something  more  than  purely  linear 
effects.  With  retroussage  the  bones  are 
clothed  with  flesh,  and  an  impression  is 
produced  far  richer  and  fuller  than  be- 
fore. With  these  impressions  is  Mr. 
Bacher's  "  Rainy  Night,  Venice,"  printed 
from  a  plate  wiped  with  a  dry  rag,  which 
has  spread  the  ink  along  the  sides  of 
the  lines  without  bringing  them  to- 
gether as  in  retroussage,  thus  produc- 
ing a  sombre  evenness  of  tone.  Now, 
the  question  of  how  far  the  etcher  is 
justified  in  seeking  aid  from  the  printer 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  79 

is  one  upon  which  I  do  not  propose  to 
enter.  Neither  do  I  deem  it  necessary 
to  renew  discussion  of  the  "limitations" 
of  etching,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
intelligently  directed  study  of  such  rep- 
resentative etchings  as  are  contained  in 
the  portfolio  before  me  will  be  more 
profitable  than  the  acceptance  of  any 
dicta.  Take  some  of  Mr.  Pennell's 
etchings,  "  The  Landing  Place,  Leg- 
horn," and  "  The  Swing  of  the  Arno," 
and  note  the  support  gained  for  his 
lines  by  his  course  in  stopping  out  his 
whites  and  attacking  the  copper  direct- 
ly with  acid,  or  by  removing  enough  of 
the  ground  with  sand-paper  to  permit 
a  slight  corrosion  of  the  plate.  These 
means  are  of  course  quite  outside  of 
simple  draughtmanship  with  the  needle, 
and  yet  these  and  others  of  a  similar 
kind  have  been  employed  since  the  his- 


80  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

tory  of  etching  began  ;  and  their  ad- 
missibility or  value  can  be  decided  by 
anyone  for  himself  with  the  etchings  in 
question  before  him.  Not  so  much  for 
this,  however,  as  for  the  free,  bold  sweep 
of  lines,  are  these  etchings  worth  atten- 
tion, and  the  same  linear  beauty  ap- 
pears in  some  of  Mr.  Pennell's  etchings 
of  bridges  over  the  Arno,  a  beauty 
forming  no  slight  feature  of  Meryon's 
"  Apse  of  Notre  Dame,"  and  "  Pont 
au  Change."  In  the  "Archway,  Pis- 
toria,"  and  in  various  Florentine  studies, 
Mr.  Pennell's  vivacious  touch  is  seen  to 
even  better  advantage.  We  may  quar- 
rel with  his  mannerisms,  and  his  over- 
bitten  opaque  shadows,  or  what  not,  but, 
after  all,  his  work  is  stimulating  and  in- 
teresting. 

There  is  another   "  school "  in  this 
country,  according  to  foreign  critics — 


ETCHING  m  AMERICA.  Ol 

the  "school  of  Seymour  Haden" — and 
among  its  pupils  Messrs.  Piatt  and  Par- 
rish  are  assigned  a  leading  place.  Of 
Mr.  Piatt's  earlier,  and  perhaps  fresher, 
work  I  can  point  out  no  better  example 
than  "  The  Market  Slip,  Low  Tide,  St. 
John,  N.  B.*'  Once  in  a  European  cap- 
ital this  etching  was  received  with  in- 
credulity by  a  company  of  eminent  con- 
noisseurs. And  when  convinced  of  its 
American  origin,  an  Italian  collector 
said:  "  I  knew  that  pork  and  petroleum 
came  from  America.  I  did  not  know 
that  America  produced  works  of  art 
like  this."  Since  then  foreign  ama- 
teurs have  found  reasons  for  couching 
their  compliments  to  our  etchers  in 
more  graceful  terms.  Mr.  Piatt's  "  Low 
Tide  "  is  notable  for  the  excellent  com- 
position of  which  the  fine  confusion  of 
masts  and  rigging  to  the  left  forms  a 


82  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

Striking  part,  for  the  easy  yet  assured 
tracing  of  lines  against  the  sky,  for  the 
suggestive  dampness  of  the  foreground, 
and  for  the  atmospheric  effect,  the  Hght 
streaming  out  from  the  horizon,  an  ef- 
fect very  materially  aided  by  the  print- 
ing. Less  strong,  but  yet  extremely 
good,  is  an  example  of  Mr.  Piatt's  recent 
work,  "  On  the  Connecticut  River,"  a 
sloop  beside  an  old  wharf,  and  a  far- 
reaching  stretch  of  water,  with  build- 
ings on  the  shore ;  a  simple  composition, 
but  valuable  for  this  reason,  among 
others,  that  the  etcher  has  not  allowed 
himself  to  do  too  much.  Of  Mr.  Par- 
rish's  recent  work  there  is  no  better  ex- 
ample than  his  large  etching  of  "  Lon- 
don Bridge."  The  crowded  shipping 
of  the  Thames  and  its  eddying  waters 
have  been  treated  by  master-hands  be- 
fore, but  in  his  drawing  and  his  avoid- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  83 

ance  of  undue  detail  Mr.  Parrlsh  has 
acquitted  himself  well.  His  composition 
loses  something  in  directness  through 
the  abundance  of  its  elements,  but  one 
will  be  long  in  exhausting  the  fine 
points  of  this  etching.  Nothing  that 
Mr.  Parrish  has  done,  however,  seems 
to  me  more  vigorous  than  his  "  Low 
Tide,  Bay  of  Fundy,"  with  the  strong 
lines  of  stranded  vessels  outstanding 
against  a  brilliant  sky,  balanced  by 
quaint  houses  on  the  shore,  and  with 
another  touch  added  in  the  expressive 
figures  on  the  beach.  This  is  perhaps 
the  only  American  etching  which  has 
been  purchased  for  one  of  the  great 
Continental  collections,  that  at  Vienna, 
of  which  Adam  Bartsch  was  the  cura- 
tor seventy  years  ago.  These  etchings 
surely  have  a  sufficiently  pictorial  value, 
but  one  who  emphasizes  this  aspect  of 


84  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

the  etching  may  perhaps  find  greater 
satisfaction  in  Mr.  Peter  Moran's  "  Pass- 
ing Storm,"  and  "  A  New  England  Or- 
chard." In  one,  cattle  pace  leisurely 
over  a  sunny,  finely-rendered  fore- 
ground, while  behind  them  comes  the 
sombre  march  of  bursting  rain-clouds. 
Something  might  be  said  against  the 
heaviness  of  the  down-pouring  sheets 
of  rain,  but  this  is  a  matter  to  be  settled 
between  the  etcher  and  his  printer. 
Very  different  is  the  orchard  scene, 
glittering  with  sunlight,  where  a  flock 
of  sheep  graze  beneath  the  apple- 
boughs.  This  is  worth  study  as  an  ex- 
ample of  tact  in  omission.  The  etcher 
has  carried  his  work  far  enough ;  he 
has  not  enfeebled  his  plate  by  over- 
elaboration.  And  yet  his  method  of 
expression  is  very  different  from  that  of 
Mrs.  M.  Nimmo  Moran,  whose  "  Goose- 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  8$ 

pond  "  and  "  Summer  at  East  Hamp- 
ton "  may  be  taken  as  excellent  exam- 
ples of  vigorous  line-work.  As  stimuli 
of  the  imagination  I  may  take  Mr. 
Thomas  Moran's  study  of  a  breaking 
wave,  called  "  The  Sounding  Sea,"  pro- 
voking yet  interesting,  and  his  mysteri- 
ous "  Twilight  in  Arizona,"  the  latter 
exemplifying  the  use  of  the  roulette,  and 
not  the  autographic  drawing  which  is 
the  peculiar  charm  of  etching.  But  this 
is  one  of  the  many  resources  of  the 
etcher,  like  the  artificial  printing  of  Miss 
E.  L.  Peirce's  admirably  sympathetic 
"  Road  to  the  Beach."  Here,  at  least, 
I  think  the  printer  must  share  with  the 
etcher  the  honors  of  a  plate  which  sim- 
ply printed  would  have  obtained  a  far 
less  degree  of  popular  success. 

These  examples  are  enough,  perhaps, 
for  my  purpose,  which  has  been   only 


86  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

to  point  out,  without  detailed  discus- 
sion, some  American  painter-etchings 
which  are  accessible  at  most  print-shops 
of  consequence,  which  possess  intrinsic 
artistic  merit,  which  illustrate  the  scope 
and  versatility  of  the  etcher's  resources, 
and  which,  with  few  exceptions,  are  pure 
etchings.  I  am  well  aware  that  the 
landscapes  and  Venetian  scenes  of  Mr. 
Gifford,  such  etchings  as  Mr.  Van 
Elten's  "Holland  Wind- Mill"  and 
*'In  the  Meadows,"  the  landscapes  of 
Messrs.  Smillie,  Farrer,  Yale,  and  the 
excellent  work  of  other  etchers,  will  be 
suggested  to  many  possibly  with  equal 
force ;  but,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  impossi- 
ble in  these  limits  to  analyze  the  work 
of  all  American  etchers.  What  I  have 
aimed  to  do  is  to  supplement  enforced 
generalities  with  such  pertinent  and 
convenient  illustrations  that  my  readers 


ETCHING  IN  AMERICA.  8/ 

may  be  helped  to  a  practical  and  In- 
telligent study  of  etching  in  America. 
Etchings  like  those  which  I  have  cited 
are  not  to  be  held  lightly  by  the  most 
refined  connoisseur,  while  on  the  other 
hand  they  contain  enough  pictorial  in- 
cident and  charm  of  subject  to  satisfy  a 
want  which  cannot  be  altogether  ig- 
nored. Since  they  show  the  true  ap- 
plication of  the  art,  there  is  much  to  be 
learned  from  them.  It  is  fortunate  that 
we  have  at  hand  such  instructive  teach- 
ers of  the  public.  Elsewhere  I  have 
deplored  certain  inartistic  commercial 
tendencies  which  have  been  making 
themselves  felt  in  our  etching,  but  I 
would  not  be  thought  to  fail  in  recog- 
nizing the  persistence  of  tendencies  in 
the  riofht  direction.  No  one  who  cares 
a  straw  for  art  can  fail  to  honor  our 
best  painter-etchers  for  their  admirable 


OO  ETCHING  IN  AMERICA. 

achievements,  and  the  veriest  Grad- 
grind  may  well  be  moved  by  the  noble 
recognition  accorded  them  abroad.  The 
recent  past  of  etching  in  America  is 
more  than  creditable.  Its  present,  de- 
spite signs  of  immaturity  and  commer- 
cialism, offers  many  reasons  for  hope- 
fulness. Its  future  standing  depends 
upon  the  maintenance  by  our  etchers  of 
etching  as  an  art. 


AMERICAN  ETCHERS. 


This  list,  including,  as  it  does,  the  names  of 
nearly  all  the  artists  who  have  exhibited  with 
the  New  York  Etching  Club,  contains  the 
names  of  many  whose  work  with  the  needle  is 
intermittent  and  incidental.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  few  artists  who  exhibited  with  the  club 
in  its  earlier  years  have  been  omitted,  because 
they  appear  to  have  abandoned  entirely  this 
branch  of  art. 

*  Member  New  York  Etching  Club, 

f  Member  Society  Painter-Etchers,  London. 

Adams,  J.  Wood,       .        .        .     New  York. 


f  Backer,  Otto  H.,     . 
*Baldwin,  a.  H., 
Bauer,  W.  C,  . 

BiCKNELL,  A.   H., 

Blum,  Robert, 

Calahan,  James  J.,  . 
Champnev,  J.  Wells, 
Chase,  Harry, 


Cleveland,  O. 
.  New  York. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
Maiden,  Mass. 
.     New  York. 

.     New  York. 


90 


AMERICAN  ETCHERS. 


*Chase,  W.  M.,  .        .        .        .     New  York. 

♦fCHURCH,  F.  S., 

Clements,  Gabrielle  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Cole,  J.  Foxcroft,  . 
♦CoLMAN,  Samuel, 
CoRwiN,  Charles. 

Daingerfield,  Elliott, 
De  Haas,  M.  F.  H., 

*Dielman,  Frederick, 
Dillaye,  Blanche,  . 
DixwELL,  Anna  P.,  . 
Dougherty,  Parke  C, 

fDuvENECK,  Frank. 

Earle,  L.  C,    . 
Ehninger,  John  W., 
*Eno,  Henry  C, 

*tFALC0NER,  J.  M., 
*fFARRER,  Henry, 

Ferris,  Gerome, 

Ferris,  S.  J.      . 

Garrett,  Edmund  H., 
*Gaugengigl,  I.  M.,  . 
*fGiFF0RD,  R.  Swain,  . 


Boston,  Mass. 
Newport,  R.  I. 


New  York. 


Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


.  Chicago,  111. 

Saratoga,  N.  Y. 

.     New  York. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

.     New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Boston,  Mass. 

New  York. 


AMERICAN  ETCHERS.  91 

New  York. 


Greatorex,  Eliza,  . 
Guy,  S.  J., 

Hamilton,  Hamilton, 
Heinigke,  Otto, 
Hill,  J.  Henry, 
HovENDEN,  Thomas, 
Hunter,  F.  Leo, 


New  York. 


Jones,  Alfred, 
Juengling,  Fred., 

King,  James  S., 

Lander,  Benjamin, 
Lauber,  Joseph, 
Le  Fevre,  W.  J., 
Lesley,  Margaret  \V., 
Levin,  Katherine, 
lovewell,  r. 
Low,  Will.  H., 

Mansfield,  John  W. 
Martin,  T.  M., 
Matlack,  Eleanor, 

MiELATZ,  C.  F.  W., 

^Miller,  C.  H., 


Mont  Moor,  N.  Y. 

Plymouth  Meeting,  Pa. 

Cold  Spring,  N.  Y. 

New  York. 


New  York. 

New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Chelsea,  Mass. 
.      New  York. 

New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Newport,  R.  L 

.     New  York. 


92 


AMERICAN  ETCHERS. 


Miller,  E.  R,  . 
Miller,  E.  H.,  . 
Mills,  Charles  E.,  . 

MiLLSPAUGH,  J.  H.,     . 

*MONKS,  J.  A.  S., 
Moran,  Emily, 

*tMORAN,  M.  NiMMO,    . 

*Moran,  Peter, 
*fMoRAN,  Thomas, 

Neely,  J.,  Jr.,  . 
*NlCOLL,  J.  C,    . 

*f  Parrish,  Stephen,    . 

Peirce,  Edith  Loring, 
♦fPENNELL,  Joseph, 

♦fPLATT,  C.  A.,     . 

*Reinhart,  C.  S., 
Richards,  F.  De  B., 
Ritchie,  G.  W.  H.,  . 

*ROBBINS,  H.  \V., 

*Sabin,  J.  P.,     . 
*Sartain,  William,    . 
*Satterlee,  Walter, 
Schilling,  Alexander, 


Columbus,  O. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Pittsburg,  Pa, 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

.     New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
.     New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


New  York. 

New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  York. 
<(        «( 

New  York. 

((  u 

<<  <i 

.  Chicago,  111. 


AMERICAN  ETCHERS. 


93 


schoff,  s.  a.,  . 

Sewell,  R.  v.  v.,     . 

Share,  H.  P.,   . 

Shelton,  W.  H., 
*Shirlaw,  Walter,   . 
♦Smillie,  George  H., 
*f Smillie,  James  D.,    . 

*TWACHTMAN,  J.  H.,    . 
TWACHTMAN,  MrS.  J.  H., 

Vanderhoff,  Charles  A 
*fVAN  Elten,  Kruseman, 
VoLKMAR,  Charles, 

Walker,  Horatio,  . 
Wallace,  W.  H.,  . 
Waller,  Frank, 

fWHiSTLER,  James  McNeil, 
Whittemore,  C.  E., 
Whittemore,  W.  J., 
Wiseman,  Robert  R,, 

*WooD,  T.  W.,  . 

*Yale,  L.  M.,     . 
Yewell,  G.  H., 


Boston,  Mass. 
New  York. 


Cincinnati,  O. 


New  York. 


Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

New  York. 

London,  England. 

New  York. 
<(        « 

New  Haven,  Conn. 
New  York. 

New  York. 


AMERICAN  PRINT-COLLECTORS 
AND  PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS. 


Armour,  George  A.,  Chicago,  111.,  old  engrav- 
ings and  etchings. 

Avery,  S.  P.,  New  York,  Iladen,  Whistler,  and 
fnodern  French  etchings. 

Bates,  Isaac  C,  old  line-engraved  portraits. 

Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  Mass., 
American  etchings  and  other  prints. 

Bradley,  C.  S.,  Providence,  R.  I.,  scJwol  of 
Durer,  etc. 

Claghorn  Collection,  owned  by  T.  Harri- 
son Garrett,  Baltimore,  Md.,  some  twenty 
thousand  old  and  modern  prints. 

Davis,  William  Henry,  Cincinnati,  O.,  line-en- 
gravings. 

Field,  Henry  T.,  Chicago,  111.,  modern  etchings. 

Gray  Collection,  owned  by  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, at  present  in  the  Boston  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts,  six  thousand  old  prints. 

Griggs,  L.  D.,  New  York,  old  prints. 

Hamill,  Charles  D.,  Chicago,  111.,  Rembrandt 
and  his  school. 

Hoe,  Robert,  New  York,  Diirer,  etc. 

Irwin,  Theodore,  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  fine  exam- 
pies  of  Rembrandt,  Diirer,  etc. 


AMERICAN  PRINT-COLLECTORS.  95 

Karmann,  Dr.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

King  Collection,  Redwood  Library,  New- 
port, R.  L,  old  English,  Italian,  and  Dutch 
engravings. 

Lea,  Henry  C,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Van  Dyck 
Iconography,  portraits  with  outlines  etched  by 
Van  Dyck. 

Mansfield,  Howard,  New  York,  fine  modern 
etchings. 

Marsh  Collection,  Smithsonian  Institute, 
Washington,  D.  C,  old  line-engravings. 

Marquand,  Henry  G.,  New  York. 

Phillips  Collection,  Pennsylvania  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts,  sixty  t/iottsand  prints,  histori- 
cally most  valuable. 

JR.OGERS,  Edmund  Law,  Baltimore,  Md.,  old 
line-  engravings. 

Sewell,  Henry  F.,  New  York,  eighteen  thou- 
sand old  prints,  representing  the  best  work  of 
engravers  and  etchers. 

Taft,  Royal,  Providence,  R.  L,  rare  proof s  of 
pure  line-engravings. 

Tosti  Collection,  Boston  Public  Library, 
six  tJiousand  old  engravings. 

West,  Professor  Charles  E.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
fine  old  prints. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  New 
York,  eight  thousand  engraved  portraits. 


NOTES. 

1.  (Page  19.)  Mr.  Smillie  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1885. 

2.  (Page  35.)  Mr.  Gififord  published  etch- 
ings as  early  as  1865  or  1866,  and  Dr.  Yale, 
with  Mr.  James  D.  Smillie  and  a  few  others, 
etched  some  plates  about  that  time. 

3.  (Page  44.)     Mandel  is  not  living. 


NEW   ART    PUBLICATIONS. 


ETCHINGS. 


Every  copy  of  Some  Modern  Etchings  having  been  sold  by  the 
publishers,  unsigned  impressions  of  the  etched  plates  are  noiu  offered 
separately  or  as  a  set  without  text,  as  folloivs  :  Each  etching  neatly 
matted.  Testing  the  Toledo,  by  Frank  V/aller — My  Ain  Fireside, 
by  S.  G.  McCutcheon — A  Tramp,  by  Gabrielle  D.  Clements — Portrait 
OF  Rembrandt,  by  f.  S.  King— Voutk  San  Trinita,  by  Joseph  Pennell 
— The  Evening  Star,  by  Walter  Satterlec — Never  Too  Late  to 
Mend,  by  J.  Wells  Champney — Driving  Sheep,  by  J.  A.  S.  Monks — 
An  Old  Master  at  Last,  by  Elliott  Dangerfield — Clarionet  Player, 
by  Katherine  Levin. 

Impressions  on  Japan  paper,  each  $2.30 ;  the  set  of  ten  in  neat  port- 
folio, §20.t». 

The  Christian  Union  says  :  "  Clara  Erskine  Clement  has  sup- 
plemented her  well-known  and  admirable  ^History  of  Painting'  by  a  new 
volume,  published  in  the  same  style,  and  containing  An  Outline 
History  of 

SCULPTURE  FOR  BEGINNERS  AND  STUDENTS." 

Of  this  work  The  Boston  Advertiser  says :  "  The  author  has 
given  to  her  text  almost  the  fascination  of  a  well-told  story." 

The  Boston  Beacon  says :  "  It  may  heartily  be  recommended  as 
thoroughly  sound,  accurate  and  helpful." 

Fi'lly  and  handsomely  illustrated  with  122  full-page  illustratiojis 
or  cuts  set  in  the  text.     With  complete  indexes. 

8vo.  Tastefully  bound.  With  artistic  designs  stamped  in  gold  on 
cloth  covers,  $2.50.     Half  calf,  $4.50. 

Covers  the  ground  in  an  interesting  way,  giving  a  good  idea  of  all 
the  great  sculptors  and  their  ivorks,  as  ivell  as  enabling  any  one  ivho 
wishes  a  general  knowledge  of  the  subject  to  obtain  it  in  a  pleasant 
way.     Very  readable. 

New  catalogue  with  full  descriptions  of  many  interesting  art  publi- 
cations mailed  free  to  any  address,  on  application. 

Any  of  the  above  can  be  had  of  your  bookseller,  or  will  be  sent  to  any 
address,  at  publishers'  expense,  on  receipt  of  advertised  price. 


WHITE,  STOKES,  &  ALLEN, 

publishers, 
182    Fifth  Avenue,   New  York   City, 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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